In My Life
by ffSL
Summary: complete and revised Hermione has changed in many ways since she was fourteen. Now she is eighteen, and has changed her looks, her name, and her lifestyle. She returns to her home to discover so many things she tried so hard to forget...
1. Intro

"In My Life"

(Inspired by the song by John Lennon and Paul McCartney)

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing except the plot. And even that's pushing it.

Okay, there are a few things that you need to know about the history of the characters in this story in order to understand it. Obviously, you know all about these characters up to their fourth year (I obviously started writing this before The Order of the Phoenix), but this is what happened to each afterwards:

Hermione Granger- Had to drop out of Hogwarts after her fourth year because both of her parents died in a tragic car accident. She moved to her great aunt's house in California afterwards, but eventually her great aunt also died. Hermione became a movie star and, under her agent's instructions, changed her name to something a little more fitting for a star: Nicole Madison. She lived by herself in Hollywood and became strikingly beautiful as well as a rather good actress. Now, most of the world knows her name, and she is only eighteen...Oh, and nobody knows what happened to her after she moved to America, including Harry and Ron...

Draco Malfoy- Graduated from Hogwarts with honors as Head Boy, and continued on to a life with the English Quidditch team as a seeker. He is currently extremely popular among the wizarding world and in the muggle world for his sudden generous donations to New Line Cinemas. Surprising, no? Well maybe not that surprising...(AN: Please no questions on why I picked New Line cinema, it was the first thing that came to mind.)

Harry Potter- Graduated from Hogwarts and lives by himself in London. He hardly remembers his best friend, and he now works for the Ministry…

Well, I think that about sums it up, now on to the story!


	2. Chapter 1

"In My Life"

(Partially inspired by the song by John Lennon and Paul McCartney)

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing except the plot. And even that's pushing it.

"Nicole, I'm glad you could come on such short notice," said director and agent Tim Werthing, gesturing to the seat across from him. "It's rather important."

"It's not a problem Tim, I didn't have anything planned." said a beautiful girl with curly light brown hair in her late teens.

"I'm glad." He took a seat. "Nicole, you must have noticed how well and quickly your acting career has risen. Your nomination for the academy awards has earned you praise from many people nationwide. Now, your fame has spread internationally." He looked over his glasses at her. She responded with a curious look. "Now that this has happened, a director in England has specially requested you for a leading role in his new production. The film will be produced by New Line Cinema."

The girl, named Hermione, was awestruck. "New Line Cinema?" she asked incredulously. She never expected to work with such a well-known company.

"Yes. Now this is why I had to tell you this minute," he continued. Hermione listened carefully. "It starts filming in two days."

"Two days!" The joy that had filled Hermione flickered. She would surely have to leave tomorrow morning. She sighed in frustration. She wasn't organized enough to pack for six months in about five hours. "Where did you say it was again?"

"In England." Tim put on his "wise man" look. "I suggest you take this, Nicole. It's the chance of a life time."

"I know." She whispered. "But England? Why England?"

"Because that's where the film is going to take place. In London." He gave her a quizzical look. "Why are you so against England? You're from there, aren't you?"

"Well, yes, that's sort of the point." She looked at the floor. After four long years of working hard to forget what she left at home, she did _not_ feel prepared to face the same memorable places, especially in London, where she had lived.

"Tim, I don't think the chance of a lifetime is good enough for me."

"How about a nice paycheck? Perhaps...oh, let's say, several million dollars?"

"Several _million_?" Hermione stopped looking at the floor. Though highly experienced and famous actresses wouldn't blink at the idea of millions of dollars, Hermione was only eighteen and not yet used to having more money than she knew what to do with.

Tim smiled. "I thought that might work."

Hermione smiled back at him. "I'll get my suitcase."

"We hope you enjoyed the flight." The airline attendant spoke loudly into her microphone.

'This is it.' Hermione thought as she unbuckled her seatbelt and made toward the exit of the plane.

"Thank you for flying American, Ms. Madison."

Hermione put on her fake smile and headed towards the baggage claim. After nearly an hour next to the revolving suitcases, she realized that the airline had lost her luggage and the next flight's passengers were retrieving their bags.

"Shit. The damn airline's lost my luggage." She went to the lost luggage station. "Excuse me?" she rang the little bell on the desk in front of her. Finally a young lady appeared.

"May I help you?"

"Yes," Hermione snapped, "Your airline has lost my luggage, and I have to be in a hotel downtown in less than thirty minutes." No sleep in forty-eight hours was not a good thing for Hermione.

"Your name please?"

"Madison. Nicole Madison." She looked impatiently at her watch.

"Mmmm-hmmm." The flight attendant looked at Hermione with exasperation. "Your real name, please."

Hermione caught sight of her reflection in a small mirror behind the counter and groaned inwardly. Having not slept in forty-eight hours, there were huge bags under Hermione's eyes and her hair was stringy and held up in a messy bun. Not to mention the fact that she was wearing a sweatshirt that was far too large for her and didn't flatter her in the least. She sighed. "Look lady, I haven't gotten much sleep lately, so I'm not looking my most glamorous at this moment, but please, _please_, just believe me."

The woman frowned, but typed something into her computer. "I'm sorry ma'am, there isn't any record of a Nicole Madison flying on your flight today." She raised an eyebrow as if expecting an explanation.

Hermione thought. Of course! Tim had bought her ticket; the record would have his name, not hers! "Oh, that's because Tim Werthing, my agent, he reserved that ticket. If you look up his name, I'm sure you'll see it."

"Ma'am, I cannot disclose any information concerning anyone else on the flight, or if indeed a Mr. Werthing did reserve a ticket for today, I cannot lawfully tell you so without proper identification."

"Lady, I would show you my drivers' license, that is IF it were not stuck in the suitcase that YOUR airline lost!"

"Ma'am, please step aside."

Hermione was fed up. She shouted to the large group of people standing by the baggage claim. "OI! PEOPLE! DO ANY OF YOU KNOW WHO NICOLE MADISON IS?"

Many people nodded and looked at her strangely.

"Do I look like Nicole Madison?"

"No, not really." "You? You wish." "Mmmm, maybe a little bit. Not much." Were only a few of the replies she received. "You all need glasses!" She shouted without much point. Then, after glaring at the whole of them, she charged out of the exit and hopped on the first bus that she found. She grabbed a seat and glared at a picture of herself outside of the window. 'Lovely. I _knew _I didn't want to come back to England.' She scowled as the bus rolled along peacefully. 'I have to meet my new director in an hour, and I won't be able to take a shower, a great first impression.' She started mumbling out loud angrily to herself. "Not Nicole Madison indeed. We'll see where she is when I tell Tim about this. Not Nicole Madison, ha!"

"Excuse me?" A young man with dark hair and green eyes looked at her curiously.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Is this seat taken?" He asked.

"Oh, no, sorry." She moved her coat and put it in her lap. The man sat down and opened a newspaper. Hermione continued to look out of the window. After a minute or so, she saw a black and white reflection of herself in the window. It was moving... "What the-" Hermione said out loud and spun around only to see the man with the newspaper next to her. She cautiously tilted her head to see the name of the newspaper, begging it to be anything but... "Oh." She said out loud. The name 'Daily Prophet' was visible above a large article.

The man looked at her, realized what must have happened, and carefully shoved the newspaper out of sight and reached for something in his pocket.

"Don't even try it." Hermione said. The man tried to look quizzical, but it didn't work. "You ought to be more careful." She said casually. "You can't put a memory charm on everyone you meet."

The young man looked thoroughly relieved. "I'll remember that." he said and smiled. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Nicole. Nicole Madison." she said. "What's yours?" she found it immensely hard not to laugh at the shocked expression on his face. 'At least SOMEONE believes me.' she thought.

"My name's Harry. Harry Potter. It's nice to meet you Ms. Madison." His disheveled hair fell back slightly as he extended his hand.

Nothing in the world could have prepared Hermione for that. She felt an incredible sadness come over her, and she nearly broke down in tears. Before long, however, her acting skills took over and she said, "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you too, Harry. I'm sorry, but this is my stop." she lied and quickly got off the bus.

'Oh my god.' she thought as she turned the corner. 'Why London? Why me?'


	3. Chapter 2

"In My Life"

Chapter 2

"Ms. Madison, it's a pleasure to meet you." A tall man with glasses shook Hermione's hand.

"And you, Mr. Foroy." Hermione had only just made it to the set where the film was to be shot after finding her hotel at last. "Mr. Foroy, I wanted to ask you, Tim didn't get around to explaining it, what is this film to be about?"

"Oh, Ms. Madison, I'm sorry about that, I presume that you had to catch the first flight out of Los Angeles to reach here on time."

Hermione smiled. 'If you had any idea,' she thought. "Please call me Nicole." Was all she said.

"Okay, Nicole. The film is basically a life story. It is the story of a normal girl named Rachel Smith and her life, which, she discovers, has more twists and turns than she might expect. You are the main character, and we have arranged for you to meet the other stars at a cast and crew party, celebrating the beginning of the filming of this picture. I trust you will be able to attend." He handed her an envelope with her name on it. "Many of the actors in the film will be there. It will be a great opportunity for you to meet some of them."

"Thank you, I will most certainly be able to attend." She tucked the envelope in her pocket and toured the set with Mr. Foroy.

THE PARTY

Hermione sat down by herself at a table with a glass of water. She watched the energetic people on the dance floor with amusement. She herself had already met too many film producers and directors to have much energy at all. She also wasn't expecting anyone to ask her to dance, as nobody here knew her. She giggled to herself as she saw an old man and woman glare at a young couple that were apparently acting in the film, who were dancing rather wildly. She sipped her water and looked around the rather small area in which the party was being held. She was wearing a black dress with silver artsy lines running along it that she had found in a designer store in London the previous day. It fit her like a glove, and she was growing rather fond of it. She pushed a strand of her hair, which was tied up in a pretty bun, behind her ear. She was about to ask the bar tender for some soda when a handsome young man with blonde hair came up to her.

"Would you be willing to dance with me?" The young man asked charmingly. It was too much for Hermione to refuse.

"It would be a pleasure." She said with a smile. The handsome man led her out onto the dance floor, where the band was just beginning a slow tune. He put his arms around her waist, and she put her hands on his shoulders. They danced slowly together for minute or two, and then Hermione leaned her head on his shoulder, which she found very comforting, somehow. A few minutes later, another man came up to them.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Madison." The new stranger said. Hermione smiled at him. He looked at the guy she had been dancing with. "Your father wants to introduce you to Mr. Foroy, the new director."

"I'm sorry." The young man said to Hermione, truly looking it. "I'll talk to you later?"

"Sure." Hermione replied. She stood and watched the young man leave. She felt sad to see him go somehow, yet she didn't even know his name. 'Hmmm.' Hermione thought. 'I wonder if he's in the cast.' She slowly headed back to her glass of water and sat down. Behind her, she heard snippets of the conversation.

"This is Mr. Foroy, the director of the film. He will be working with you for the next few months." said a voice that had a trace of coldness.

"It will be a pleasure. I am pleased to help produce this film with you." Hermione recognized the voice of the man she had just finished dancing with. She listened more closely to the conversation, hoping to catch his name. Mr. Foroy spoke next.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I didn't catch your name. Would you be so kind as to tell me again?"

"Yes, sir. It's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

Hermione choked on an ice cube in her water and began to splutter. Immediately, the men behind her rushed to her side. "Ms. Madison, are you alright?" They asked as she stopped coughing.

"I'm fine." She wheezed, taking another sip of her water. "Phew. Sorry about that. Choked on an ice cube." She said. They smiled at her.

"Ms. Madison, have you met the main producer of the film?" He gestured towards a man that was unmistakably Lucius Malfoy.

"Not yet." Hermione said with all the decency she could muster.

Lucius smiled, but his eyes remained cold. "Lucius Malfoy. Pleased to meet you Ms. Madison." He took her hand. Hermione felt as if she might vomit. "And this is my son, Draco."

Hermione forced herself to look at the man that she had been dancing with only a few moments ago. "Right. Pleased to meet you, Draco. I'm Nicole Madison." She shook his hand. She let go extremely quickly.

"I'm pleased to meet you too, Ms. Madison." Hermione smiled rather nervously.

"Well, I'd best be off." She said hurriedly. "Got to get a good night's rest for the first day of filming tomorrow!" Then, without saying anything else, she nodded at them and walked as fast as she could to the revolving door, and headed out to the street. In the back of a cab on the way back to her hotel Hermione sighed and leaned her head back on the seat. 'This trip is just getting better and better,' she thought bitterly.


	4. Chapter 3

"In My Life"

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any other characters in this story. All I own is the plot.

Chapter 3

"And CUT! Lunch break!" Mr. Foroy shouted to the cast members on the set in front of him. "Excellent job, everybody!" He said. He caught up with Hermione as she was leaving the set. "Ms. Madison, I must tell you that you are doing a splendid job with this film."

"Why thank you, Mr. Foroy." Hermione smiled, pleased with herself.

"I know that this isn't exactly the most interesting screenplay." He whispered to her. "I don't really have much of a talent for writing."

"Oh, did you write the script, Mr. Foroy?" Hermione was surprised. She didn't think that Mr. Foroy was the writing type.

"Yes, actually, I did." He smiled a small smile.

"Oh, well that's great! It's an excellent screenplay!" Hermione lied with encouragement in her voice.

"Well, thank you Nicole. I was surprised that I could get so many famous actors and actresses from across the world. There are some big stars here." He looked around. "Very big stars."

"Yes, there are." Hermione agreed. "Mr. Foroy, I was wondering, how did you get inspired to write this screenplay? Did you just like the idea of the story, or what?"

"Well, Nicole, to tell you the truth, I had no urge to write this story at all." They sat down on the edge of a table in the set. "I was commissioned to write this story."

"Really?" asked Hermione, "By whom?"

"Well, it was the Malfoys. You know, you met their son, Draco, last night." Mr. Foroy looked as though he was suppressing a smile.

"Oh Malfoy, yeah I remember him." Hermione said with tension. "All too well." She muttered to herself.

Mr. Foroy looked at her curiously. "Have you, by any chance, met young Mr. Malfoy before?" He questioned her.

"Of course not." Hermione said hurriedly. "Why?"

"No reason." Said Mr. Foroy, shrugging "Anyway, the Malfoys commissioned me to write this screenplay and to direct it. They told me that it was necessary to cast the biggest stars in the acting world. I guess they really want this film to be a hit."

"I'm sure they do." Hermione said. 'To fund some extravagant Death Eater reunion, no doubt.' she thought viciously.

Mr. Foroy stood up slowly. "Well, I'm sure that the Malfoys have good intentions on their minds. Perhaps a charity of some sort." He said. "Anyway, you'd better eat your lunch. We'll be starting to shoot again in a few minutes." He walked away.

'Best intentions my ass.' Hermione thought. 'The day the Malfoys donate to charity will be the day the world stops spinning.'

"Ms. Madison! Could I have a word with you?"

Hermione turned around and saw Draco Malfoy walking quickly to catch up to her. 'Lovely.' she thought. "Hello, Mr. Malfoy." She said with all the warmness she could muster. Her eyes remained somewhat cold as she smiled.

"Ms. Madison, I just wanted to talk to you a little bit." Draco said, "I didn't get much of a chance to yesterday at the party." He laughed a little and they started to walk down the street together.

"About that," Hermione said. "I'm sorry, I was sort of feeling a little weird about something, and felt that it would be better if I left." This was the truth, though she didn't state what exactly the something _was_ that she was feeling weird about.

"Well that's quite alright. Are you feeling better?" Draco asked.

"Yes, a little better. Thank you Mr. Malfoy." Hermione replied politely.

"Please call me Draco." He smiled charmingly.

"Well, in that case, please call me Nicole. I'm still not quite used to being addressed as 'Ms. Madison' all the time. I'm only eighteen, after all."

"Really? Me as well." He couldn't take his eyes off of Hermione. "You're very pretty, Nicole." He said as he smiled his charming smile again.

Hermione was slightly startled. "Th-thank y-you." She stuttered. "You're not exactly bad looking." She muttered.

"Well, thank you." said Draco. "Nicole," he asked hesitantly, "Will you go to dinner with me tonight?"

She looked at him curiously before replying. "Sure, Draco. I'll join you for dinner." 'What the fuck are you thinking?!' she thought angrily to herself. 'Dinner with Draco Malfoy?!'

Draco smiled, looking pleased. He laughed and they walked down the street together until they found a small cafe a few blocks away. They ate dinner, and though Hermione felt unbelievably anxious whenever she remembered who she was sitting with, Draco seemed to be enjoying himself. And, if Hermione would only admit it to herself, she wasn't having a horrible time. Draco was more pleasant than she ever remembered him being. She wondered if he had just finally grown up or, more likely, if _he_ should consider a career in the acting business. But why act so nice to a complete stranger? Hermione made a mental note to keep an eye on him.

After eating, Hermione agreed to walk with him for a bit. They talked a lot, though Hermione was cautious to keep the subject on Draco and not herself. But then he sprang the questions Hermione had been dreading all evening on her.

"So, Nicole," Draco said as they were walking. "What's your history like, where did you grow up?"

Hermione started to get a little nervous. "Well, I, er, grew up in London, that was where my family lived. I went to a, um, boarding school in the…country for a while. Then I, well, my parents died, in a car crash." Hermione blinked away some tears as she remembered that painful day. She all of the sudden felt more lonely than she had ever felt in her entire life. She hadn't had many friends since Hogwarts; she spent too much time filming and trying to survive. Eventually a tear streamed down her cheek, but she brushed it away quickly.

"Nicole?" Draco looked at her, concerned. Hermione looked up at him, and he saw that her eyes were sad and pained. "I'm sorry Nicole, I didn't mean to upset you." They stopped walking.

She sighed and shook her head. "It's not you, Draco. I just--" She looked away from him for a moment before looking back into his misty gray eyes. "Haven't had…_time_…to get over my parents, with school for a while and then filming." She paused and smiled sadly. "I miss them a lot."

Draco eyed her with sympathy. They were both silent for a moment, and Draco gestured for her to sit beside him on a nearby bench. Hermione nodded and sat, her mind lost in memories of her parents.

Draco comfortingly slid his arm around her shoulders. Hermione felt that she should be appalled, but for some reason, she was actually soothed by Draco's presence. Draco finally broke the silence. "It's okay, Nicole." He whispered, "You're not alone."

Hermione didn't really understand what Draco meant by that, but she found his words reassuring all the same. "Thank you." she said almost inaudibly, and lightly rested her head on his shoulder.

The night darkened around them, stars appeared in the deep blue that was the sky. Time passed, but neither of them realized it, lost in their own thoughts and dreams.


	5. Chapter 4

"In My Life"

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story except the plot.

Chapter 4

Hermione woke up the next morning feeling as if an incredible weight had been lifted from her shoulders. To spend some time thinking about her parents was what she'd really needed for a long time. And as for Draco, she didn't know what to make of him; he certainly wasn't the heartless bastard she remembered, but it was going to be a while before she completely trusted him. She decided to give him a chance, after all, it was perfectly possible that she wasn't the only one to have changed in four years. Smiling and shrugging to herself, Hermione left her hotel room and headed for the set.

"Now, Mr. Foroy, I have a few questions to ask you about this film." Lucius Malfoy's cold voice spoke as he walked next to the director.

"Oh, really? Well, I'd be honored to answer them." said Mr. Foroy warmly. "Anything for our executive producer."

"Yes, yes, well I'm happy to help." Mr. Malfoy smiled a smile that did not reach his cold black eyes. "I was going to ask you, when are you expecting the opening night to be?"

"Well, we're not really sure yet. It all depends on the cast members' speed in filming it," Mr. Foroy saw the coldness in Mr. Malfoy's eyes and hurriedly continued. "But we're expecting it to be done around autumn."

"Yes. I see..." Lucius looked thoughtfully at Mr. Foroy. "Well I would encourage you to finish it as soon as possible." He said icily. "My son and I will not be able to oversee the filming after the beginning of fall. He's on a rather serious sports team, and will have to travel a lot."

"Oh is he? What sport?"

"You wouldn't have heard of it. It's very modern."

Mr. Foroy smiled. "Well don't worry, Mr. Malfoy, I'm sure we'll be done in plenty of time. The young Ms. Madison is doing an excellent job with the part."

"Nicole Madison? Ah, yes. Well, with a cast of many stars, what can you expect?" He chuckled softly.

"Speaking of Ms. Madison, she was wondering what your inspiration was for directing this film. Could you tell me?"

"Hmmm. Curious, was she?" Lucius's eyes flashed. "Tell her that she'll know in the end."

Draco walked into the Ministry office building in search of his father. He smiled at the receptionist at the front desk and headed for the stairs. As he was walking, he heard someone shout his name from the front doors of the lobby.

"Malfoy!" A tall man Draco's age walked quickly to catch up with him.

"Potter." Draco nodded in acknowledgement.

Harry looked at Draco with a curious expression before handing him the day's Daily Prophet. "Interesting," he said. "I never knew your family took such an interest the entertainment of muggles."

Draco looked down at the newspaper before him. He saw a picture of himself on the front page, under an article titled "And Cut!: Malfoys donate thousands to Muggle film production." "Well perhaps days have changed." Draco said, trying to shove the paper back into Harry's hands.

Harry glared at Draco. "Some things never change. Why does it suddenly interest you to put so many muggle and magical actors and actresses into one lousy film? Don't you have enough money yet?" Harry spat angrily.

"Why are you so interested, Potter? Just because you've never changed in your whole entire life doesn't mean that everyone else is just the same as they were years ago. We have our own reasons for our actions. Besides, what makes you think that not all of the actors and actresses are muggles? Magic folk don't film!" Draco snapped at Harry.

Harry gave Draco a weird look. "Why, of all things, do you care about THAT?"

"I don't." said Draco quickly, "It's just I was curious about who you were talking about. You're obviously making it all up, however, so please pardon me, I have work to do." He smiled fakely at Harry, then stepped around him and headed towards the doors again.

"It's your star." Harry shouted to Draco's back. "Nicole Madison."

Draco stopped in his tracks. "Who?" He asked.

"Nicole Madison." Harry repeated. "Why, does that mess up your plans to take over the world?" He asked sarcastically.

Draco glared at him. "How do you know?" He asked suspiciously.

"Know what? That you plan to take over the world?"

Draco nodded sarcastically. "Yes, Potter, that's what I meant. No, you prat, how do you know that Nicole Madison's a witch?"

"I met her on the bus a few days ago. She knew what the Daily Prophet was." Harry skipped over his foolishness of reading it on muggle transportation.

Draco looked at Harry, trying to decide whether or not he was lying. "Oh. Right." He finished lamely. He had a concentrated look on his face. He was experiencing mixed feelings at the moment. A sense of relief, and one of dread. "Potter, have you seen my father around here lately?" Draco asked after a minute.

Harry looked at him as if he were insane. "I don't know, ask the receptionist." Harry said, still looking at Draco.

"Great. You're sssooo helpful." Draco said sarcastically.

"Yeah whatever." Said Harry as he walked towards the stairs to his office.

Draco headed towards the receptionist's desk. "Excuse me?"

"Yes?" Asked the receptionist with a smile.

"Have you seen Lucius Malfoy come by here this morning?" Draco asked.

The receptionist looked thoughtful. "No, not today, sir. He hasn't been in for at least a week.

"Thank you." said Draco irritably as he quickly left the building, exasperated. He checked his watch. "Damn!" He swore. It was nearly noon and he had to get to the set. "Damn that Potter..." He mumbled under his breath as he ran down the street. At the same time, he couldn't help wondering... was Potter really telling the truth? And if so, what on earth was Draco going to do about it?


	6. Chapter 5

"In My Life"

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot.

Draco ran down the street in hopes of catching the next bus to the neighborhood where the set was. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. He stopped, turned around, and headed into the muggle library just down the street. He looked around the library briefly before coming to a reference desk.

"Excuse me? Does this library have any computers?" Draco asked. His father had made sure that Draco knew how to work a computer before they had commissioned the film.

"Yes, sir. Just down the hallway there."

"Thank you." Draco said hurriedly before rushing down the hallway. He found the computer room easily, and sat down at the nearest computer with internet access. He searched the internet rapidly, every few seconds gazing at his watch. He knew for sure he was going to be in deep trouble with his father if he didn't make it to the set today. "Damn." He cursed as the second hand ticked nearer to one o'clock. He was about to give up when he tried one last site. He read through it carefully. He tried to work everything out in his brain. Nothing fitted together. He printed the page and hurriedly rushed out of the library.

Hermione tiredly walked off the set to go and get her jacket. It was only four in the afternoon, but she was still tired from her uncomfortable sleep in the hotel's bed. She was on her way out the door when someone behind her shouted, "Nicole!" She spun around to see Draco smiling and running to catch up with her. She smiled back.

"Hi Draco," she said. They walked out onto the street together. "I didn't realize that you came to the set today."

"Yes, well, I came rather late." He looked down for a second, like he was feeling guilty, but he soon shook it off and smiled at her again. Hermione gazed deeply into his dark gray eyes, trying to answer some questions in her brain. However, his eyes were expressionless, and she failed to see anything.

"Would you like to have dinner with me?" she asked, "I know this great place a few blocks from here."

"Sure." Draco replied, his charming grin larger than ever. He thought for moment. "When did you move to America?"

Hermione inwardly tensed. Questions were not good. "After my parents died. A few years ago." She said vaguely.

"Which school did you say you went to before then?" Draco asked casually.

'Why is he suddenly so inquisitive?' Hermione thought frantically. "H-Hartswell Academy. It's really small, I doubt you've heard of it. Why do you ask?"

"Just out of curiosity." Draco said simply.

They went down the street, talking more than Hermione ever would have expected they could, and found a small restaurant that had been a favorite of Hermione's as a child.

They ate dinner and Draco insisted on walking Hermione back to her hotel. Outside the front doors, they stopped to say goodnight.

"Thanks for everything, Draco, I had a really nice time tonight." Hermione said truthfully, smiling warmly up at Draco.

"So did I." They stood quietly for a moment before Draco, on a sudden impulse, leaned down and kissed Hermione gently on the lips. Hermione, somewhat surprised, but also somewhat pleased, responded. After a moment they pulled away and Draco smiled. "Goodnight, Nicole."

"'Night Draco." Hermione said, and turned towards the hotel doors and went through them.

"Father, we-what-" Draco couldn't find the right words to phrase his question.

"What are you on about, Draco? Stop mumbling!" Lucius's cold voice made Draco shiver.

"Well," Draco took a deep breath. "What are we going to do about the plan?"

"The plan? What about it? It's still going to happen, just as planned." Lucius's eyes glared into Draco's. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to attend to." He turned his back to Draco.

"Yes sir," said Draco and he turned and left the room. Outside, he smashed his clenched fist into the marble wall in frustration. But what had he expected? His father was unaware of any reason that a change might be made in the plans he and Draco had laid down over a year ago. Draco doubted that Lucius would change the plan for anything. Draco leaned against the wall and slid down it, putting his head in his hands. Never in his entire life had Draco felt as helpless as he did at that moment. He searched his mind for an idea to get him out of the situation he had somehow managed to make for himself. Nothing came to him. He had but two choices. He had yet to make up his mind.

"Draco, what's the matter?" Hermione sensed that Draco was feeling uneasy at the moment, and he had had a concentrated look on his face all day long.

"It's nothing, Nicole." He smiled at her. "I've...just been thinking about the film...technical stuff." He shrugged to himself. It was sort of the truth.

"Draco, it's Saturday!" said Hermione with an exasperated laugh. "You still have the rest of today and all of tomorrow until you have to worry about work anymore!"

"I-I know." Draco fiddled with the ring on his finger, something he only did when he was nervous about something. For the first time, Hermione studied the ring a little closer, and saw that it was silver with a glistening silver snake on it with emerald eyes. Hermione noticed it and it brought back several unfavorable memories between her and Draco. She unintentionally inhaled sharply. Draco looked at her curiously then followed her gaze. He twiddled his ring some more. "I'm sorry, Nicole." He said finally. "I need some time to myself right now to think things over." He stood up quickly. Hermione followed suit. "It's not you; I just need to decide some things."

"Okay, give me a call tomorrow, okay?" Hermione said, watching Draco curiously.

"Sure." Draco quickly kissed her goodbye and left.

_Mr. Malfoy-_

_It is now official that the release date for _In My Life_, the film you have so generously donated to is the tenth of October. I know that you requested the date as quickly as possible and I am sorry we were delayed._

_Sincerely yours, _

_Frank Foroy_

"Excellent." Lucius Malfoy smiled to himself as he checked his calendar. October 10 was only a month away. "Filius!" Lucius shouted. A ragged-looking house elf appeared before him. Lucius looked at him disgustedly. "Summon my son immediately."

"Yes, master." said the elf in a squeaky voice. "Anything else, Master Malfoy?"

"Yes. Tell Draco that the plan involving the muggle cinema will take place the October 10, and have him send invites to all of the-" Lucius thought for a moment. "No, never mind the invites." The elf waited expectantly by the door. "Today, Filius!" Lucius ordered, and the elf hurriedly scurried out of the room. Lucius sat down at his desk, and began to write letter after letter, hours past noon.

Draco opened the letter he had just received from his father with apprehension.

_Draco-_

_The date for the plan is now officially the 10th of October. You are to come to the manor upon receiving this message. There we will arrange everything._

_-Lucius_

"Fuck!" Draco moaned as he threw the letter on his desk. The owl that had delivered the letter looked at him in disgust before ruffling it's feathers and flying out the window. Draco sat on his bed and put his head in his hands. He knew that eventually he would have to disapparate to Malfoy Manor, but in the meantime he had other things to attend to, and a decision to make. He slowly reached for a slip of paper that had been tucked away a little over a month ago.

_Biographies, etc._

_MADISON, NICOLE_

_Nicole Madison, nominee for Best Actress in the Oscars for her performance in "The Power", is currently 18 years of age. She was born in London England, where she lived until her parents died in an automobile accident, when she was 14. She then moved to Hollywood, CA in the U.S., to live with her great aunt. She attended a public High School there, but didn't graduate, as her great aunt died, leaving her with little money. This was when she started her acting career, at the age of sixteen. She rose to stardom at an unbelievable rate, and is currently working on a film in England, with director Frank Foroy and Producers Draco and Lucius Malfoy._

The article continued to list several films that Nicole had starred in, but Draco's mind had wandered. He put the paper back on his desk. Draco twiddled the ring that his father had given him when he was eleven, when he had first gotten into Slytherin House. He remembered Nicole's strange reaction to it the previous day. He thought for a little while more before disapparating to Malfoy Manor.

"Draco, I'm afraid you don't have any choice." Lucius Malfoy smiled grimly as he said this.

"Yes I do, father. You cannot go through with this." Draco tried to remain calm through his anger. Lucius's smile flickered.

"Oh but I will, Draco." Lucius pulled out his wand from his pocket and fiddled with it wit his hands, a habit Draco found slightly unnerving. "And neither you nor your precious muggle girlfriend are going to prevent me."

Draco's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Nicole?"

Lucius narrowed his eyes and grinned. "So it's true? Yes, I've heard all about you and Ms. Madison. Perhaps she's too special for the plan, is she?" Lucius raised his eyebrows derisively. Draco only glared back in hatred. "Maybe she deserves...special treatment?" Lucius laughed his cold laugh. "Yes...that can be arranged."

"Stay away from Nicole, father. If you don't, I assure that you're in for a surprise," said Draco ominously, quickly stepping away from his father and disapparating before Lucius could stop him. Lucius smiled as he pocketed his wand.

_Miss Nicole Madison,_

_You are cordially invited to attend a celebration party hosted by Lucius and Draco Malfoy on the evening of October 10, in celebration of the release of "In My Life" in theaters at last. If you are unable to attend, we are regretful, and wish you luck in your career in the future. If you are able to attend, please respond as quickly as possible to:_

_Lucius Malfoy_

_666 Mystere Place_

_Batonstown_

_We look forward to seeing you._

_Lucius & Draco Malfoy, Producers_

Hermione placed the letter on her desk. She thought for a moment. October 10 was the night of her birthday, and Draco had promised to take her to dinner, before she returned to the U.S. on the 12th. Surely Draco wouldn't have forgotten his promise? Hermione sighed. She wondered about Draco. Ever since they started dating, several weeks ago, Draco had been nothing short of the perfect boyfriend. He was handsome, intelligent, and nice, but Hermione still wondered if that was his true personality. At Hogwarts, he acted like the most despicable being on the planet, besides Lucius Malfoy. Why the sudden personality change? Well, she thought, perhaps it wasn't sudden; a lot can happen in four years. Still... Draco's new personality was wonderful, and she could tell from the way he looked at her that he cared deeply for her. With a jolt, Hermione realized that she cared for Draco, too. How could she have let this happen? She had hated Draco, _hated_ him, and now? She began to feel frustrated, and tried to stop thinking about Draco. I'll figure out his personality later, she thought lazily, and drifted off to sleep. Or so she would have, if at that moment Draco himself hadn't knocked on the door.

AN: Sorry this chapter was boring, but it was needed for the story to develop.


	7. Chapter 6

"In My Life"

Chapter 6

Hermione went to answer the door. Draco stood outside, looking pale. "Draco! What's wrong?" she asked. He shook his head.

"Never mind that." Then, as casually as he could, he asked, "Have you, by any chance, gotten any mail today?"

Hermione eyed him curiously. "Yes, actually, I got an invitation." She looked at him. "From you."

"Did you reply to it?" Draco asked hurriedly.

"No..."

Draco sighed, relieved. "Good." He walked into her hotel room and sat on the bed, his head in his hands. Hermione closed the door behind him.

"Draco, what is going on?"

"Nicole," Draco tried to find a way to tell her. He couldn't. "October 10, that's your birthday, and one of the last times I'll be able to see you before you leave to go home. The party's not that important, so let's just have dinner, the two of us." He looked at her and smiled. She smiled back.

"Okay, Draco." Even though she didn't believe a word that he just said had anything to do with the invitation, she thought it better to wait until he decided to tell her about it, and not press him. She put her arms around his neck and gave him a quick kiss. "Don't worry so much, Draco. Whatever you're so upset about, it'll be fine."

'I doubt it,' thought Draco gloomily.

"Ah, Dante, I'm so glad you could make it." Lucius extended the hand of greeting to his guest.

"Lucius," Dante smiled, though it was clear that this man hardly ever did this action; his face appeared oddly disoriented. "Long time no see. How may I help you, my old friend?"

Lucius grinned wickedly. "Yes, there is a girl my son is dating." Dante raised his eyebrows. "A muggle girl."

Dante's eyes popped wide open. "Draco Malfoy? _Your_ son? Never."

"Oh, yes, unfortunately so." Lucius nodded grimly. "Perhaps further explanation is not needed?"

Dante smiled again. Lucius tried not to wince. "Not really. Only instructions."

"Good." Lucius sat down in his study, gesturing for Dante to do the same. "This girl, Nicole Madison," Lucius paused for his words to sink in. Dante did a double take.

"Nicole Madison? _Movie star_ Nicole Madison?"

Lucius smirked. "Surely you don't take my son for a person who would date _any_ muggle?"

"Of course not." said Dante hurriedly.

"Good. Now, for my plan." Lucius drew his wand and made a drawing in the air. It looked like a rectangle. "This here," he said, gesturing toward the rectangle, "Is Miss Madison's hotel. It is a very expensive one, and security is high." Dante nodded. Lucius drew three lines in the rectangle, then a dot above the third line. "Apparition should be done here," he said, pointing to the dot. "Now, security cameras line the hallway, but, fortunately for me, you have the honor of figuring those out on your own." He smiled. He pulled a piece of parchment from his desk. "Address and remaining instructions are on this sheet. You are free to bring along your own team, and the reward for this opportunity is generous. In other words, bring the best." He looked meaningfully at Dante. "A great deal is at stake if this does not go smoothly. A great deal for us all." He raised the robes on his left arm up past his forearm.

Dante nodded, no trace of a smile on his face now. "Point taken."

"Wonderful."

Hermione woke up the next morning with the queasy feeling of tension in her stomach. She had truly realized for the first time yesterday that she had fallen in love with Draco, something she had never intended. She was still angry with herself for it; after all, she was going to return to America in a matter of weeks. She got dressed, and then left the hotel to take a walk in the park. She was enjoying a cool breeze sweeping through the multi-colored trees, trying to forget her dilemma, but something inside her kept nagging, making her thoughts continually stray back to Draco. She knew she would forever regret it if she returned home without ever telling him. She was an honest person, and hated lying, even in the vaguest sense. Of course, she knew Draco had done his own fair share of lying in their relationship. Throughout the past few months he had obviously been trying to hide their relationship from the public, for reasons that he never told her. And what was with the whole invitation issue? Surely he could tell her, his girlfriend...his love? Hermione wondered. Did Draco feel the same way as she did? Was it possible that he didn't care for her at all, that this was just some scheme, part of a great plan? Hermione almost laughed out loud at herself. What was she thinking? The new, improved, changed Draco, an actor? Trying to convince her that he cared when he didn't? No. She decided that Draco wouldn't do that. Would he? Hermione shook off these ridiculous thoughts, kicking herself for thinking such things. What she would do to have someone to talk to about this. Harry? Ron? Where were they now? She remembered that first day back in London. It seemed do long ago now. Harry seemed to be the same, good-humored person he had always been. Luckily, he hadn't managed to get himself killed...yet. She began to wonder if she could see him again. Tell him her real name, but to keep it secret. She wanted to tell people on her own. Especially Draco. How would they all react? Would Harry welcome her with open arms? Would Draco push her away, break her heart? My life is so fucked up, Hermione decided, frustrated. She knew she needed to tell Draco. The sooner, the better. She wouldn't know how he would react until she tried. She would tell him that night. She and Draco were going to dinner, and it would be the perfect opportunity to let him know. She sighed and took a deep breath. A reunion with Harry would have to wait.

Draco and Hermione entered Hermione's hotel room, laughing and content, having just finished a satisfying dinner. Draco eased himself into an armchair and Hermione sat on the bed across from him. After some conversation, Hermione knew it was finally time to let Draco know how she felt _and_ who she really was.

Hermione mentally took a deep breath and spoke, "Draco, I think I need to tell you something." Draco looked at her curiously and left his chair to sit beside her on the bed.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I…" Hermione hesitated and mentally hit herself for not just saying it, "I love you." She looked into Draco's deep grey eyes, waiting for a reaction. To her immense relief, he smiled.

"I love you too, Nicole." He leaned down and caught her in a kiss that Hermione would have been very happy to continue but made herself pull away from.

"Wait, there's something else." Hermione said, full of anxiety.

"Yes?" Draco asked, slightly apprehensive.

"I…I don't really know how to say this, but…I'm not who you think I am." Hermione inwardly cringed at what she had said. What was with the drama? To increase her anxiety further, Draco was smiling…was that normal?

Relief was evident on Draco's features. "It's okay. I _know_."

"What? No, you couldn't know, not what I'm talking abo-" Draco silenced her by placing a hand over her mouth.

"It's okay," He took a deep breath, hoping against hope that he was right about this… "Hermione."


	8. Chapter 7

"In My Life"

Chapter 8

Hermione sat in shock, still not entirely comprehending what Draco had just said. He _knew_? How? When? Was he okay with this new development in their relationship?

She searched Draco's face for answers. He was smiling at her, not broadly, just a gentle barely detectable smile. His eyes told her nothing; they remained emotionless, all feeling hidden behind a gray mist. "Draco, I…I'm so sorry. I didn't know whether to tell you, everything was going so great, I just…I'm sorry." Hermione looked down, feeling tears form in her eyes, regretting that she had kept up this lie so long that Draco had figured it out on his own.

Draco saw Hermione's misery and gently lifted her chin so that she met his gaze. "It's alright, Hermione. It doesn't matter anymore. Our, er, less-than-_friendly_ relationship at Hogwarts is behind us now." He leaned forward to whisper in her ear, "Forget it ever happened."

Hermione looked at him, the tears rolling down her cheeks, not in sadness, but in joy at having gotten that huge burden off her shoulders and, best of all, having Draco accept the real her. "Thank you, Draco. I love you." And, feeling like that was the truest statement she had muttered since she met Draco again, she kissed him passionately, which he returned without hesitation or interruption of any kind....

The man named Dante checked into the hotel where Hermione currently resided. His room was on the third floor, as he had specially requested. He entered the room, put down his single suitcase, and immediately exited again, strolling casually down the corridor. He noticed a security guard watching television at his desk near the elevators, six security cameras in all; three on either side of the hallway. As the guard could not see very far down the hallway from the elevators and stairs, Dante carefully searched the hall for a blind spot in the cameras' vision. At long last, he found one, right outside room 357, under and slightly to the left of a camera. Cautiously sliding down the wall where the blind spot was, he marked it with his wand, leaving a barely visible green speck. This, surely, was the spot Lucius had meant as an apparition point. He looked at the door to room 357, where he could hear speech, but it was impossible to understand. _"Lissenervado!"_ He muttered, pointing his wand at the door to room 357. Immediately, he heard the voices floating from the room clearly.

"Hermione, there's something I haven't told you about my father and the film." A young man's voice spoke. Obviously Draco.

"What is it?" A second voice spoke, this time a young woman's. "Is it about why you produced it? You know, you never did explain that."

"I've only known you knew that I was a wizard for a few days! For absolute certain, I didn't know until last night."

"Right. I know. I forgot. Anyway, why did the Malfoys, usually so keen to take away muggles' lives, pay so generously for their entertainment?" Dante leaned forward slightly, eager to hear every word that Lucius had so coincidentally left out at their meeting. So she knew about magic folk _and_ the Malfoys' history? This was going to be considerably tougher than if she was as ignorant as Lucius had made her out to be.

"First of all, you know my father's background...." Dante muttered "Finite!" as he heard the slight Ding! of the elevator. A tall man emerged and walked up to the security guard. Dante quickly stood up and hurried to his room, mad at the interruption of his eavesdropping. He quickly shook off his disappointment, however, and continued on to think about planning the kidnapping of Nicole Madison....

"First of all, you know my father's background," said Draco, slightly uncomfortably, "You know of his work for the Dark Lord." He looked up from the floor to Hermione to see her reaction, but she merely nodded for him to continue. "Anyway, the night of the tenth of October, only two weeks left now, on that night he... has something planned." He paused for a moment.

"Yes...?" asked Hermione apprehensively.

"He.... Did you ever wonder why we insisted on having so many muggle stars in this production?" He inquired suddenly.

"Er... Well, yes, actually. Why?" asked Hermione, slightly taken aback.

"Well, on the tenth of October, he is going to host a party at Malfoy Manor. At this party, he is going to make a…_statement_…for the whole world to care about, magical _and _muggle...." He looked down at his feet once more.

"What kind of statement?" asked Hermione worriedly.

"He's going to show the strength of the dark side; he's…" Draco paused again, afraid of finishing, "He's going to murder them all."

A tall, gaunt man named Macnair looked up from his desk as he heard a loud popping noise coming from the corridor outside his study door. Someone knocked a few seconds later. Swiftly, Macnair rose from his seat and crossed his eerie, cold office to answer the door. He opened it to see his long time friend, Dante, standing before him. "Dante!" he said with a smile. "What a surprise!"

"Yes... did I disturb you?" asked Dante, looking around the study for other visitors.

"No, no. Please come in." Dante entered and sat in a rather uncomfortable black leather chair. He kept glancing at the photographs of beheaded animals lining the wall with a shiver running down his spine.

"Macnair, this is about Lucius. He has given me a _mission_." He said smoothly.

"Oh?"

"Yes. It involves the capturing of a certain Nicole Madison, though the precise reasoning I am not fully aware of."

Macnair raised his eyebrows. "Nicole Madison? Have I heard that name before?"

"Most definitely. She's quite popular in the muggle world, all over their news, etcetera. Are you interested?" asked Dante.

"Perhaps... what kind of capture is this?" Macnair asked, wondering why Lucius cared about a popular muggle girl.

"Let me put it this way," said Dante with an amused smirk. "Draco Malfoy, Lucius's son, is dating this muggle girl." Macnair's eyebrows were in danger of disappearing into what little hair remained on his head.

"Young Draco? A traitor? Lucius's own flesh and blood? Surely you are mistaken."

"I'm afraid not. I've just witnessed the two of them talking early this morning in Miss Madison's hotel room." He skipped over the part where Draco had called her 'Hermione'; a part of this mess that Dante had yet to figure out.

"Oh..." Macnair seemed at a loss for words­­­. "Fine. I'll help you. Should be fairly easy, am I right?" Although this whole ordeal would usually be too complicated for his liking, Macnair could not deny that he was slightly intrigued by the story.

"It would be... that is, if she didn't know about magic."

"She knows _what_?"

"Oh yes, from what I heard this morning, Draco has told her about our kind."

"This is getting difficult far too quickly. This means we don't have quite the surprise we ought to on our side."

"Exactly."


	9. Chapter 8

"In My Life"

_Partially inspired by the song by John Lennon and Paul McCartney_

Disclaimer: I still own nothing but the plot.

Chapter 8

"_What_?" Hermione was starting to feel the happiness she had from the night before slip away from her. She was staring in Draco's direction but not really seeing him.

Draco stood nervously before her, fiddling with his ring. "Ni-, er, Hermione?" he said cautiously.

She looked into his eyes for a second before speaking. "Draco," she began softly, "I need to be alone for a little while, okay?"

"Of course, Hermione." he said quickly. "Give me a call…." He let himself out of the hotel room. Hermione slowly sat down on the bed. She was so confused and…_stunned_. As she sat motionlessly for countless minutes, she felt her surprise turn to sadness. How could she have thought that she was the only one keeping secrets these past months? Somehow hers suddenly seemed small and insignificant compared to what she had just heard. Her mind was in shambles, nothing was right anymore. She eventually gave up trying to fix her brain and fell back softly on her bed, sobbing quietly.

Draco quickly left the hotel, trying to convince himself that everything would work out fine, when in reality he knew that it would be a very long time before Hermione would even _talk_ to him. He felt terrible, but didn't see any other possible alternatives for what he could have told her. Should he have waited to let her know? If he had, it would have been worse, and he knew it. There was no fixing the mess he had started so many months ago when Lucius and he had figured this all out. He remembered feeling worse than he had ever felt before; discussing the deaths of innocent people he hadn't yet met. But it was that or disappointing his father, something that Draco had grown up avoiding at all costs. Though he was disgusted with himself for not facing his father when it would have helped, Draco knew little could be done. Now he could only be happy with the knowledge that Hermione was safe in knowing the truth. Whether or not she would ever want to see him again was another matter; one that would be discovered later.

Dante and Macnair waited patiently outside until nightfall, going over their plan in whispers all of the late afternoon. At one point, they looked up and saw Draco leaving the building. Perfect.

When night had fallen, the two men whispered quietly one last time before disappearing with a POP! into thin air.

Macnair apparated to the empty elevator waiting on the first floor and calmly pressed the button indicating floor three. Upon reaching the third floor, Macnair quietly whispered a spell under his breath, instantly putting the security guard into a deep sleep. He then exited the elevator, calmly walking down the hall to the stairs near Hermione's room. He descended them, cautiously placing signs reading _Stairs Under Construction! DO NOT ENTER! _on all of the doors leading to the stairwell. Noticing happily that there were no cameras in the stairwell area, Macnair quickly ran back to the third floor, where he awaited the arrival of Dante.

Dante had apparated immediately to the third floor corridor, just outside Hermione's room. He cautiously approached the door and knocked casually.

Hermione sat on a chair, gazing in wonder at the wand in front of her. 'I haven't used this in years…' she thought to herself, 'would I remember any of the spells now?' she wondered. Quickly, she tried to remember everything that she had learned in magic school four years ago. She was surprised at the amount remembered, but then again, she had been rather fond of studying…. She chuckled softly to herself.

Suddenly, a knock on the door awoke her from her thoughts. "Who is it?" she called to the person behind the door. An unfamiliar voice responded.

"Ms. Madison, a package for you." Hermione stood slowly. It was only hotel staff. She stuffed her wand in her back pocket and opened the door. "_Silencio_," muttered Dante, his wand just visible in his right hand. He quickly stepped inside the room and closed the door behind him. Hermione, terrified and realizing that she was no longer able to use her voice, quickly backed away from the stranger before her. She had backed straight into the wall on the opposite side of the room before Dante laughed and said, "_Stupify_."

Hermione collapsed, unconscious, immediately.

Hermione awoke with a terrible headache, in a place that could only truly be described as a dungeon. She was lying on a cold stone floor, growing more confused by the second. She tried sitting up, but it made her headache worse, so she lay back down. She felt something sticking uncomfortably into her lower back, and rolled over to see what it was. Not seeing anything on the floor, she slowly reached into her back pocket, pulling out her old wand. Suddenly, everything came rushing back to her—the hotel room, the Malfoys' plan, the knock on the door—everything. Hermione groaned, wondering where on earth she could possibly be.

This question was soon answered. Hermione heard someone walking down the stone hallway, and, too exhausted to do anything else, waited until the person passed her cell.

Lucius Malfoy soon appeared before her. "I see that you are awake." He said coldly.

"Mr. Malfoy? Where am I?" Hermione turned on the "Nicole" part of herself, carefully hiding her wand from view behind her back. Lucius smiled evilly.

"Ms. Madison, you are in Malfoy Manor. I suggest that you get used to your environment, you're going to be here for some time."

Hermione narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Why am I here? Where's Draco?"

Lucius smiled again. "Oh, Draco is fine. He's upstairs right now, in fact. Feeling rather proud of himself, I would imagine."

"Pardon?" asked Hermione, wondering what could possibly be going on.

"Yes, Draco's plan worked very well. It is because of him that you are here. Yes, he made sure that everyone could attend, including you."

"Attend what, exactly?"

"Oh, just a little ceremony. You wouldn't understand the importance of it, even if I was willing to tell you, which I am not."

"What does Draco have to do with any of this?"

"It was his idea, he thought of it. Well, now that you can't get out of here, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to say…." Lucius laughed softly. "Why not? You are going to die, Ms. Madison. You and the rest of the cast of this stupid little muggle production. Draco will kill you all, for the sake of our kind."

"_Draco_…?" Hermione didn't know whether she believed Lucius or not. He did seem confident…

"Yes _Draco_. Failed to mention that, did he?" Lucius looked coldly down at her and then quickly walked away, chuckling to himself.

'_Draco_?' Hermione thought to herself numbly.


	10. Chapter 9

"In My Life"

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Hermione was trapped in her cell for thirteen days, occasionally given food by a servant she did not recognize. She had often asked this servant how long they planned to keep her there, or what time it was, as she had no watch of her own. To these questions the servant said nothing, only bringing her food and fresh clothes of Mrs. Malfoy's when the ones she was wearing got dirty and worn out. She didn't spend much time doing anything in particular, more just thinking, or fiddling with her wand. Though she knew she had remembered some spells while she was in her hotel room, she couldn't for the life of her remember what they were. In any case, she didn't see what the use would be in escaping if the Malfoys could merely catch her again and put her in a cell with higher security.

During her thirteenth day of imprisonment, Hermione once again spent her time thinking over everything that had happened to her in her mind. Her thoughts kept wandering back to Draco, whether or not he had really planned her capture, whether Lucius had made everything up to make her feel alone…. She couldn't decide. However, towards the end of that day, so much thinking about Draco had convinced her that he had been tricking her the entire time. Tricked her into being alone in her hotel room that night, tricked her into believing he had changed since Hogwarts…. And why hadn't he told her when he discovered her true identity? Why would he have let her lie to him? What trustworthy person let their girlfriend go on with a lie if they knew the truth?

By the time she was thinking of terrible ways to plot revenge on Draco, she had completely lost track of everything else. Hermione sighed and slowly reached out and picked up her wand, examining it carefully. She heard the sound of someone walking on the floor above her. She thought about how long she could possibly have been there. Was that the rest of the cast above her? Could it possibly be the evening of the tenth? She heard laughter upstairs. 'I have to warn them!' She thought suddenly, standing up quickly. She took one last glance at her wand before walking over to the door. 'Now, how does that spell go…?' she stood there, trying as best she could to remember….

"Alamado," she mumbled. "No, er… alohana?" She cursed to herself as she tried several different nonsense words to no avail. 'Why can't I remember?!' she asked herself angrily. "Wait! Alo-…Alom-, no…_Alohomora_!" Hermione almost yelled in excitement as the door before her swung open.

Hermione quickly left the small cell-like room in which she had been confined and closed the door behind her. She ran down the narrow corridor, guessing the direction of the stairs.

Five minutes later, above her, a servant ran up to Lucius Malfoy and whispered some interesting news in his ear.

"What?!" exclaimed Lucius, loudly enough to arouse attention from the surrounding guests. Lucius smiled at the people now looking at him curiously. "Excuse me for one moment." He told them politely, leaving the room to enter his office down the hallway.

"What do you mean, Nicole Madison has escaped?" He asked his servant furiously. "That door was sealed magically!"

The servant looked apologetic. "She must have broken through the lock! Ms. Madison is no longer there. She could be anywhere in the manor by now."

Lucius scowled. "Tell every employee. If anyone should see Ms. Madison, they are to notify me immediately. Do you understand?" The servant nodded. "I'm going the dungeons to have a look at that lock." As soon as Lucius was preparing to leave, another servant rushed into the office panting.

"Pardon me, sir, but your son has just arrived."

Draco had spent the last few hours lying on his bed in his apartment, trying to read, but more thinking about what he had said to Hermione and how it must have sounded to her. Though he had spent much time trying to think of other ways he could have told her about the plan, he didn't see how it could sound any better than it had. Sighing, Draco lazily got out of bed and headed to the window. It was late evening now, and the sun had set, leaving the sky a twilight blue. Draco began to wonder how much time he had wasted thinking about something he could not change, and looked at his alarm clock. It read 7:35.

Draco then began to wonder how long it had been since Hermione had spoken to him. He had tried for over a week now to continue on with his life; to convince himself that their relationship was over, but he had decided to think about her today. His calendar told him that it had been thirteen days since that morning in Hermione's hotel room. Thirteen days seemed like a long time ago….

'If today is the tenth,' Draco thought to himself, 'Then tonight is the opening night of the film!' Draco realized with a jolt. 'Wait… opening night?! The party!' Draco suddenly grabbed his coat and keys and disappeared with a small POP! to Hermione's hotel room.

A split second later, Draco found himself in Hermione's very neat room. He searched quickly around the small space for any sign of Hermione, but she was nowhere in sight. Draco hoped against hope that she hadn't gone to Malfoy Manor thinking she could warn everyone. However, as Draco double-checked the room, he saw no sign of Hermione. In fact, it looked as though Hermione hadn't been there in ages. Draco looked suspiciously from the dust covering her chest of drawers and desk to the hook on the back of the door, on which hung her jacket. When he looked down, Draco realized that absolutely everything in the room was the same as when he had last been there. Everything, even Hermione's shoes, which sat by the door to the bathroom. 'What the hell is Hermione doing wandering around without her shoes or coat, in the middle of November?' Draco thought, pacing nervously around the small space. Draco could only think of one reason why Hermione was not here and, by the looks of things, hadn't been for days… and that one reason had to do with Lucius Malfoy. Without further hesitation, Draco disappeared once again with a small POP!

Hermione raced around the dungeons of Malfoy Manor. They were enormous, and Hermione kept getting the strange feeling that she was going in circles. After a while, she paused for breath, unsure of which way to go: forward, left, or right. 'This place is a maze!' She thought to herself, frustrated. Hermione recalled that Draco had once mentioned the south door of his manor back at school. She wondered if that could possibly mean that there was a stairwell somewhere to the South. Hermione decided it was worth a try when she remembered that she had no idea which direction South was. Frustrated, she whispered, to no one in particular, "Please, something give me a sign! Any indication of South! Just point me in the right direction!" To Hermione's amazement, her wand left her hand of its own will and pointed down the hallway to her right. Awestruck, Hermione thought for a moment and realized what had happened. "_Point me_! Of course!" She thought to her self incredulously as she grabbed her wand and hurried down the corridor to her left.

After jogging down the same corridor for a few minutes, Hermione looked up and saw a stairwell leading up to the main floor. She could hear voices floating down from the party up above. 'Excellent.' She thought smugly.

Draco stormed through the front door of what had been his home for almost his entire life. Though not a particularly cozy place, the manor brought back many memories for Draco, and he paused for a second before storming over to one of his family's servants, who greeted him warmly.

"Master Malfoy, sir. I didn't know you could make it this evening."

Draco smiled briefly at the servant before saying, "Gerard, can you please get my father? I have to ask him something."

Gerard's smile faltered for an instant and returned. "Why don't you come in, Master Malfoy? Your father is currently with the guests."

Draco stepped closer to Gerard, his expression determined. "No, Gerard. My father will come here and speak to me. Please part him from his beloved guests and bring him here. It will only be a moment."

Gerard hesitated, but eventually left the front hall to go get Lucius while Draco paced back and forth, hearing the cast and other guests laughing from another room. It was several minutes before Gerard returned with Draco's father, who was grinning broadly, but whose eyes remained as cold as ever. Anger suddenly boiled up inside Draco.

"Father, what the hell have you done with He- …Nicole?" Draco asked coldly, narrowing his eyes at Lucius.

Lucius continued to smile. "She's fine. She is undoubtedly among the other guests as we speak."

Draco was surprised. "Among the other guests? What in god's name do you mean? Where is she?"

Lucius didn't answer any of Draco's questions, but continued to speak. "Draco, I have something to show you." He nodded at Gerard and another servant who had accompanied him into the room. At once, the two servants each grabbed one of Draco's arms and began to forcefully push him in the direction Lucius was now walking. Draco was caught off guard, but did not react or speak as the whole lot of them descended the flight of stairs to the dungeons; he only glared.

Eventually they reached the cell where Hermione had been held prisoner. Draco stood back and watched as Lucius examined the door and the cell within carefully. "I don't quite understand, Draco. You see, there was a magical lock on this door, and I don't see how Ms. Madison could have escaped…." Lucius said more to himself than to Draco, who was still being held by the servants. After a while, Lucius pulled his wand slowly from his pocket and muttered something under his breath. The lock clicked back and forth once, before whispering eerily "Alohomora."

Draco's eyes widened in shock as the strange voice came seemingly from the lock itself. The voice sounded vaguely familiar to Draco, but very distant, as if it were a memory of someone whispering, or a ghost. Lucius swallowed, and then looked coldly back at Draco.

"Well, Draco," Lucius said calmly, though his anger was evident on his features. "I suspect that you are not sharing all you know. Do you think that _wise_?" Lucius was slowly stepping closer to Draco. His voice was becoming softer, while at the same time more menacing. "Draco, does Miss Madison know about the magical world?" Lucius clenched his fists in rage, glaring ever more harshly at Draco. "Well?" he whispered when he was only a foot from his son. "Is she a witch?"

A slow smile stretched across Draco's face.


	11. Chapter 10

"In My Life"

Chapter 10

Hermione rushed up the stairs. Her heart was pounding furiously from both running and anxiety. There was a closed door at the top of the staircase and Hermione sprinted towards it. She pushed the door's handle. It didn't budge. Panting, Hermione searched her pocket for her wand. Upon finding it, she muttered, "_Alohomora_." Nothing happened. "Damnit!" Hermione swore, pounding her fist on the door. She could still hear the cheerful voices of her fellow cast members through the door. Hermione put her head in her hands, thinking carefully. Lucius Malfoy almost certainly knew of her escape by now, as one of his servants would have noticed her absence. That meant that she was locked in a stairwell of the manor, alone, practically waiting to be caught by someone who would return her to captivity, undoubtedly _without_ her wand. These thoughts did not cheer Hermione up, and she felt on the verge of tears. She gave the door another feeble push, but it was no use. She figured her only chance was either to go back down to the maze that was the dungeons, or go upstairs, where there was a small hope of a door being unlocked.

Hermione sighed before hurrying up the stairs. She didn't allow herself to think about anything except her next move, because if she did, she would realize how hopeless her situation was….

Draco didn't even realize what was happening. One moment, he was standing, his face a few inches from his father's, the next, he was on the cold floor, sporting a bloody lip. Lucius stood above him, his hands clutched in fists, and looking more insane by the second. Draco glared coldly up at his father, slowly rising to his feet.

"It is terrible enough that you had to ruin the reputation of this family with your consorting with muggles, but to lie to your own father…. You aren't the son I once thought you were." Lucius whispered his words fiercely without any apparent attempt to hide his anger.

Draco was angrier than he'd ever remembered being. His hatred towards his father had intensified during past few minutes. Draco wanted to shout, to _scream_ at his father for acting like this was somehow his fault. But wasn't that always how it had been? Hadn't Lucius always twisted things to make it seem like someone else was always to blame? That was his way, and Draco hated that. "Disgracing the family name? You tell me that I'm ruining the Malfoys' high reputation, when this very night; you plan on killing over a hundred people? You can't talk to me about lying or disgrace when you've led innocent people into a trap to benefit you and that worthless bastard of a human being you call your master."

Once again Lucius swung his clenched fist towards Draco, but this time Draco was ready, and he ducked just in time. Lucius's fist hit the wall with tremendous force, and he ground his teeth together to keep from shouting at the pain. Draco knew he had gone too far now. He had stepped over a dangerous line, and he bolted. He sprinted down the dungeon corridor, not able to distinguish any words in his father's shouting. Draco ran through the dark, narrow passageways, subconsciously heading towards the South stairwell, which was the closest to where he currently was. Upon reaching the stairs, Draco paused for breath and heard the sounds of laughter and cheerfulness from the guests upstairs. He sighed, slowly ascending the first flight. He paused again when he heard a different sound above him; not the sound of the guests, but what sounded like hurried footsteps. He briefly wondered whether it was a servant making his rounds when he realized that a servant wouldn't be that rushed, nor would they be using this back stairwell which was only used by a few people. He listened to the footsteps again, and another thought crossed his mind; "Hermione?" Draco called up the stairs. The footsteps stopped.

Hermione continued her running up the stairs, hopeful that one door would be unlocked, or left open. However, when she came to the second floor, she realized that this door was locked as well. Hermione paused to catch her breath before hurrying up the next flight of stairs. Suddenly, out of nowhere, she heard her name being called. "Hermione?" someone was shouting up the stairs. It was Draco. Hermione froze.

Hermione flattened her body against the stairwell's dark wall, praying that Draco wouldn't come up the stairs and find her. She needed to get to where the other guests were, and being found and put back in a cell in the dungeons was the last thing she needed.

Draco listened intently, but whoever had been running up the stairs had stopped, and the only noises to be heard were coming from the first floor where the guests continued talking, unaware of what was happening. Draco tried calling up the stairs again, "Hermione? Is that you? Hermione, it's me, Draco. Are you there?"

Hermione stood completely still, listening to Draco's voice coming up the stairwell. She was tempted to reply, but memories of Draco's betrayal kept her from speaking. Tears welled up in her eyes. She wished so much that none of this was happening; that she had stayed in the U.S., that she had never met Draco or learned of his schemes. But no matter how much she wanted it to all go away, it wouldn't, and she had to deal with what was happening and save the innocent people below her. She heard Draco climbing up the stairs, no doubt coming to check who was responsible for the footsteps he had undoubtedly heard. She quickly decided on a plan and leapt from the shadows of the stairwell.

Draco ascended the stairs, determined to find the person whom he had heard moments before, whether it was Hermione or not. He was on the verge of giving up, having climbed several flights without seeing anyone, when Hermione appeared out of nowhere, her wand pointed at his chest. Draco jumped, startled by Hermione's sudden appearance. "Hermione, what are you doing? Why didn't you answer me?" Draco asked, looking up into Hermione's determined glare. Though it was dark, Draco could make out tears slipping down the sides of Hermione's face. "What's wrong?" He asked, moving one step closer to her.

Hermione shook her head, looking down at Draco, who was playing innocent a few steps below her. "What's wrong?" she whispered, her voice cold and angry. "You have the nerve to ask me what's wrong? What's _right_? That's the real question. I've been locked in your father's cold, disgusting dungeons for over a week, waiting for someone to come and rescue me. You, the only person I had been trusting, have betrayed me. My fellow, innocent cast members are downstairs waiting to be killed off, all because of some scheme _you_ thought up! I'm stuck in this dark stairwell at the back of Malfoy Manor, a place I never thought I'd have to be. _What's wrong?_ What the hell isn't?!" Hermione shouted at Draco, her wand hand shaking from her anger. She was now crying uncontrollably, and Draco looked up at her, confused about everything she was saying.

Draco tried to put everything together in his head, but nothing Hermione was saying made any sense. "You've been here for over a week? How? Why?" Hermione just glared at him.

"Of course I've been trapped here! Where else would I be? You and your father had me taken from my hotel room that day you told me about 'the plan.' You made it sound like you were dragged into it then; you just conveniently forgot to tell me it was _your_ idea!" Hermione whispered fiercely, trying not to attract the attention of nearby servants with her screaming.

"_My_ idea?" Draco was so confused; there were no words to describe it. Why did she think the plan was his idea? He had never told her anything of the sort. It had been Lucius's idea, the whole thing. Draco's eyes widened as realization hit. 'Of course!' he thought to himself. "Did my father tell you that? That it was my idea?" He asked Hermione, taking another step towards her.

Hermione faltered. Draco looked so confused by what she was saying. Was it possible that she was wrong, that Lucius had lied after all? Or was this just an act? "Your father told me everything." She said, stepping back when Draco stepped towards her. "That it was your idea, all of it…." Hermione paused, reflecting on exactly what Lucius Malfoy had told her. Over her time in the manor, she had somehow led herself to believe that Draco had betrayed her, but as she looked back on it, it really didn't make sense. Why would Draco have told her about the plan if he was going to make her be a part of it? Why get so personally involved with her? Why not stand back and wait until someone refused an invitation to the party, and intervene then? Hermione's thoughts were interrupted by a shout from the bottom of the stairs.

"Draco? Come down here now, boy! You'll pay for what you said!" Lucius shouted up the stairs. Draco turned away from Hermione to look down the stairs. Several floors below, Lucius Malfoy began to climb rapidly towards where Draco and Hermione were standing.

"Shit!" swore Draco, turning back to Hermione, who had disappeared up the stairs. He could hear her quick footsteps above him and he began running rapidly down the stairs to the second floor. When Draco reached the door to the second floor, Lucius Malfoy was hurrying up the last set of steps to the landing where Draco stood. Mere seconds before his father caught up to him, Draco muttered a password, opening the door and quickly slamming it behind him. "_Sierte_." Draco said, drawing out his wand once the door had closed. He wasted no time waiting for his father to break the simple locking spell Draco had cast on the stairway door.

Sprinting down the large corridor, Draco wondered where Hermione had gone, and whether she was still in the stairwell or if she had managed to escape before Lucius realized she was there. He came to a halt when he reached the grand stairwell, a huge area that led to all floors. This stairwell was the kind people thought of in old royal palaces; it was made mainly of marble, the designs in the banister were exquisite, and it was several meters in width. It was here that Draco thought about his options. He could either try to find Hermione and risk both him and Hermione getting caught by Lucius, or he could attempt to save all the guests before they drank the poisoned champagne they would be served when Lucius made his speech. Wishing the best of luck to Hermione, Draco began hurrying down to the first floor.

Hermione was rushing up the stairs as quietly as possible, aware of Lucius's shouting and swearing. Hermione finally reached the third floor, and hopefully her presence was not known to Lucius, who only a floor below her was still muttering spells and charms under his breath. Once again, Hermione pushed at the door leading into the manor, but it was locked as well. Hermione sighed, too tired and frustrated to continue. She listened to the voice of Draco's father below her. He had tried many different spells now, but none of them seemed to have an effect on the door. Finally, Lucius muttered "_Abrando_," and the door creaked open. Lucius shoved the door all the way open, storming down the hallway after Draco. When the door clicked closed once again, Hermione let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. She slowly stood and pointed her wand at the lock on the door.

"_Abrando_." She muttered, and, to her relief and joy, the door opened. Hermione pushed on the handle and walked through the door. At last, she was out of that small, dark stairwell. Closing the door quietly behind her, Hermione set off down the rather small hallway, guessing where to go.


	12. Chapter 11

"In My Life"

Disclaimer: I own only the plot; the characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 11

The grand staircase Draco was running down opened into the large reception area that he had talked to Gerard and his father in before. Now it was deserted, much to Draco's relief. He looked around quickly before sprinting over to a small wooden door to his left; the entrance to the kitchens.

Steam and the smell of exotic spices filled the large room. Servants and cooks walked briskly around with trays of wonderful appetizers and bottles of wine. Draco closed the door quietly behind him and tried to stay in the shadows as he made his way over to a long wooden table covered in orderly rows of champagne glasses. Half the glasses were already filled and a servant was filling the others. Draco sat as still and quietly as he could, waiting for the servant to finish.

Hermione walked through the small third-floor hallway she had ended up in carefully, listening for the sound of footsteps as she went. It was eerily quiet up there, and the only sounds she could hear were the fast beating of her heart and once in a while a very loud laugh from downstairs.

She had been walking for several minutes and hadn't found a stairwell, much to her frustration. All the small wooden doors around her were locked, and, having no desire to see more of the horrors of Malfoy Manor than she had to, didn't put much effort into opening them. The paint was peeling off of the walls and the carpet below her feet was stained and looked as though it hadn't been properly cleaned in years. After thinking for a while about why such a corridor existed in the Malfoys' home, she came to the conclusion that this was probably the servants' quarters. She felt sympathetic towards the servants as she realized the reason that this hallway was so poorly kept was because the people that lived here were so busy serving the Malfoys and cleaning the other section of the manor that they didn't have time to clean their own hallway and rooms.

Hermione's thoughts about the lives of servants were instantly forgotten when she came across a small spiral staircase at the very end of the hallway. Rapidly descending the steps, she wondered what she would do next. If she just burst into the party panting and claiming that Lucius Malfoy was about to murder them all, who would believe her? They'd all laugh and think it was some sort of joke. She paused at the bottom of the stairs, wondering what she should do. All night she had been running from the Malfoys and their servants, trying to get to the first floor to save the guests, but not once had she thought about how she was going to do it.

Feeling helpless, Hermione sat on the bottom step of the spiral staircase with her head in her hands. Where was Draco now? Where was Lucius Malfoy? She lifted her head quickly and looked around, as if expecting someone to jump out of the shadows. She was in a small room, completely empty except for the staircase. A door stood ajar a few feet from her. Slowly, Hermione rose to her feet and quickly checked to see that no one was just outside the door before stepping out into the hallway.

In contrast with the one upstairs, this corridor seemed to be in perfect condition, full of beautiful marble designs and wooden furniture. Hermione cautiously stepped out onto the carpeted floor and headed towards the cheery voices of the people below her, which she could now hear distinctly.

A beautiful chandelier hung at the end of the hall, illuminating a central area that seemed to lead to the other hallways on the second floor. In the center of the area was a small wooden staircase, which Hermione, upon seeing it, sprinted towards. She leaned over railing, looking down at the party below, which seemed to be in some sort of ballroom. She recognized many of the faces, and tears welled up in her eyes when she thought about what would happen to them if she failed to warn them.

Absorbed in watching the guests below, Hermione failed to notice that a person was standing right behind her.

"Hello, Miss Madison. So glad you could attend," said the cold voice of Lucius Malfoy.

After watching a servant pour the last glass of champagne, some ten or fifteen minutes later, Draco slowly stood up. Everyone in the kitchen was too preoccupied to notice his presence, so Draco approached the long table without question. There was a large cauldron boiling at the end of the table, and the servant was now standing over it and adding a powdered ingredient. The potion, which had formerly been a light gray, suddenly turned a gold color, which must have been a good thing, for the servant looked pleased with himself. Draco waited until the servant had left before grabbing a glass off a nearby countertop and pouring a small amount of the gold potion into it.

Pulling out his wand, Draco used several charms on the potion to try and guess what kind of poison it was. He had just decided that it must have been _Lotherium_--a complex potion that took several minutes to act and dissolved as soon as the person was dead, leaving behind no trace that he or she was poisoned--when someone tapped him on the shoulder. Spinning around, Draco came face-to-face with his father and Hermione, who was struggling fiercely in Lucius's firm grasp.

Draco looked from his father to Hermione, slowly lowering the sample of _Lotherium_ in his hand. "Let her go." He said calmly.

Lucius smiled evily. "I don't think so. Not yet. You two could have made this night very difficult for me, and I don't plan to make it any easier for you." He paused, eyeing the glass in Draco's hand. "So, Draco, I see you've discovered our _Lotherium_. The whole plan was quite elaborate. We needed a skilled potion maker for the _Lotherium_, which is going into the champagne in a few moments. I'd say that it should only be about five minutes after everyone is served that they'll all be, er, _eternally asleep_." Hermione put more effort into her fight at these words and Draco clenched his fists. Lucius's smile broadened. "After that, it would only be a matter of casting the dark mark into the sky and giving the ministry an anonymous tip to lead them here. Maybe then people will finally realize the immense power the Dark Lord possesses." Though Lucius spoke calmly, his excitement at his own words was evident.

By the end of his father's little speech, Draco's eyes were narrowed to slits and anger was pulsing through his body. There was a second's pause before Draco spoke. "_Lotherium_," he said, aiming his wand at the bubbling cauldron, "takes six weeks to brew properly, am I right?" Lucius only had a moment to look at his son suspiciously before Draco flicked his wrist and the entire contents of the cauldron vanished.

Draco, in his entire life, had never seen his father so angry. He barely had time to dive under the wooden table before Lucius had hurled his fist at him. "You!" Lucius spluttered, lunging under the table himself, hurling hexes at his son in his uncontrollable rage. "HOW DARE YOU?" Lucius shouted.

The next second, Draco howled in agony as he failed to dodge the Cruciatus Curse sent his way. "Draco!" Hermione shrieked, momentarily forgetting her mixed feelings towards him.

Servants and cooks in the kitchen stopped what they were doing to watch. Draco had stopped screaming, but was looking shaken as he scrambled out from under the other side of the table. Lucius grabbed his ankle and Draco tumbled to the floor with a groan. Champagne glasses crashed down around the fighting pair as the table shook. Lucius's wand was knocked out of his hand by a falling glass, but he managed to grab Draco's. "Avada K--"

"_STUPIFY_!" Hermione's wand was aimed at Lucius, but he moved at the last second. To her horror, Draco was the one who fell unconscious. Lucius looked surprised for a second, and then laughed horribly when he saw Hermione there, eyes widened in shock at having hit the wrong person.

"Excellent, Miss Madison, thank you very much." Lucius said to laughs from the surrounding servants and cooks. Hermione wasn't moving a muscle, but inside she was panicking. What was she going to do? If she stunned Lucius, would the servants turn against her? Most likely. In the end she decided to put her acting talent to good use.

"You're quite welcome, Mr. Malfoy. Draco was obviously getting in the way of the plan; he nearly foiled it. I daresay it was good I stopped him before he completely wrecked everything." She said casually, lowering her wand. Lucius stared blankly at her.

"But…you…what?" he mumbled, all traces of superiority and confidence lost.

Hermione rolled her eyes as if Lucius could not add two and two together. However, despite her confident appearance, she was frantically searching her brain for somewhere to go with what she had started. None of what she was saying made sense, and she knew it. "Honestly, Lucius. I thought surely you had figured it out by now." When Lucius continued to stare at her blankly, she continued. "Well, in a nutshell, I was appointed by my father to help you with your plan if you needed it. I saw that the biggest problem was Draco, who seemed to be anything but faithful to the Dark Lord, and I took matters into my own hands." Hermione said with a shrug. 'What?!' her mind shrieked. 'None of this holds together!'

Lucius looked at her suspiciously. "And who, may I ask, is your father?"

Hermione thought quickly. She didn't know the names of many Death Eaters, let alone ones with daughters her age. "Er…Rodolphus Lestrange." She said, remembering a time in her years at Hogwarts when she had read something about the Lestranges being sent to Azkaban. Lucius must have been familiar with the name, because his eyes widened for a moment before he continued to squint at her suspiciously. Neither spoke for several seconds while Hermione tried hard not to look guilty.

Eventually, Lucius spoke. "Gerard," he said to a man a few feet to his right, "Please owl Rodolphus. Ask him if he has a daughter named…" He looked at Hermione expectantly.

"Er…Violetta. Violetta Lestrange." Said Hermione, suddenly remembering a painting of violets she had seen on the second floor.

Lucius chuckled coldly. "We shall see. For now, please join my guests. Upon an owl from your 'father,' I will speak to you again." He flicked Draco's wand at the wall and a secret door to the ballroom of guests opened. Hermione chanced a quick look back at Draco, who was still lying unconscious on the floor at Lucius's feet, and joined her fellow cast members.


	13. Chapter 12

"In My Life"

Chapter 12

The secret door closed behind her and Hermione quickly hid her wand behind her back as muggles surrounded her. Forcing a smile at those who were looking at her curiously, Hermione tried to casually back up against the secret door in the wall. As hard as Hermione tried to listen to what Lucius was saying in the kitchen, the loud talk of the guests made it impossible.

Hermione looked around the wall for a crack, a keyhole, something she could listen through. To her great frustration, the door was incredibly well-concealed. The only way anybody would even be able to tell there was a door there was to look very closely at where the wall met the floor. There was a very slim crack there, but this was of no use to Hermione, who couldn't very well lie down on floor with so many onlookers.

"Damn!" she swore, glaring at the crack. And then, quite suddenly, she had an idea. Casually leaning against the wall, Hermione dropped her wand to the floor and pushed it with her foot until about half of her wand was under the door. On the pretense of wiping a piece of dirt off of her pants, Hermione allowed her hand to touch her wand as she muttered "_Ennervate_."

Standing quickly and pocketing her wand, Hermione could only pray that it had worked and that _someone_ would hear Lucius's backup plan on the other side of the door.

Draco felt conciousness return to him and opened his eyes slowly. He had somehow ended up on the floor in the kitchens. Someone was standing above him, talking loudly. He looked up, and realizing that it was his father, closed them again quickly. If he concentrated, he could just make out what Lucius was saying.

"How many of you can manage the killing curse?" He asked the servants around him. From the muttering and shuffling of feet that Draco heard, he guessed that only a few of them could. He was right; when he opened his eyes the tiniest bit, he saw only Gerard, William, Vincent, Carl, and Hector raising their hands. "One, two, three, four, five of you? Is that it?" asked Lucius. "Well, I suppose it will have to do. Alright then, I was hoping to finish them all off at once with the champagne, but seeing as that plan has been ruined"--Draco felt his father's glare--"our only option seems to be Avada Kedavra, which, quite obviously, will arouse panic in the guests, as there are only six of us and over a hundred of them, meaning they will have to witness one another's murders, something I had hoped we could avoid." Lucius drew a deep breath and continued. "We will start at midnight. The doors to the ballroom will all be magically sealed by then so none of the guests will be able to escape. If all goes well, the Dark Mark should be in the sky and we will all be long gone by two. Any questions?" There was a silence as Lucius looked around, then a servant spoke.

"Sir, what about Master Draco and Violetta Lestrange? What shall become of them, sir?"

"I will wait for a response from Rodolphus to see what to do about our supposed 'Violetta Lestrange.' As for Draco, just leave him there, he's not going anywhere soon." Lucius chuckled and walked briskly out of the kitchens to rejoin his guests. The servants then rapidly got back to work, serving hors d'oeuvres and pouring glasses of fine wines to give to guests.

Draco waited until all the servers and chefs were too busy dealing with their own tasks to notice his disappearance. He then slid carefully into the shadows and down a set of steps that led to the dungeons.

The dungeons were horribly dark under this section of the manor and Draco found himself tripping often on his way to the south stairs. Eventually, he reached the stairwell and started up it quickly, as it was already eleven-thirty. He reached the first floor and opened the door, which led into a small but elegant side hallway.

Draco ran down the hallway and opened a small wooden door that led into the crowded ballroom. Thankfully there were no servants nearby, and Lucius was not to be seen. Draco casually made his way through the crowd to the other side, where he finally found Hermione. She immediately rushed over to him.

"Draco, I'm so sorry! I missed! I didn't mean to hit you, I was aiming for Lucius, but he moved, and I'm sorry!" Tears were welling up in her eyes once again and she suddenly reached out and gave Draco a fierce hug, one that held relief, apology, anxiety, and fear. Draco found himself trying to comfort her while leading her to a less crowded corner where they might not raise as many suspicions. Hermione loosened her tight embrace on Draco to look into his eyes. "And now they think I'm Violetta Lestrange because I thought they were going to imprison me or--or kill me." She sniffled. "And now they've owled Rodolphus Lestrange to ask him if he really has a daughter named Violetta, and then they'll find us and who knows what will happen?" She said hopelessly.

Draco nodded and began to think about their options. They only had about twenty-five minutes before Lucius came in and started murdering his unknowing guests. "Well, I don't know how long it will take for Rodolphus to reply, but Lucius is going to come in here with five others at midnight and start killing everyone off with Avada Kedavra."

Hermione's eyes widened. "What?" she said, shocked, "But, that's even worse than the poisoned champagne! Lucius is a Death Eater! Shouldn't he know horrible dark curses that kill off thirty people at once, or something?"

Draco blinked. "No," he said simply, "There's only one curse that is strictly for killing--Avada Kedavra. Others can kill you, of course, but you'd die from blood loss or some weird hex that rearranged your insides or something"--Hermione gasped at this, horrified,--"but Avada Kedavra's the only curse that will kill merely for the sake of killing and leave no trace. It's like your life just ends for no apparent reason, that's what makes it so horrible, and that's why it's an Unforgivable Curse and others aren't."

Hermione wasn't entirely sure that she understood, but she nodded. "So, do you know who the other five are? The people who are going to help Lucius at midnight?"

Draco thought, straining to remember. "There was Vincent and Carl…then, er, Hector…and, yes, Gerard too…and the last one was…" Draco tried to remember the faces of the five servants who could perform Avada Kedavra. "William."

"Good, at least we know who we're after," said Hermione. "But we'll have to get out of here to do anything about it…preferably before they lock the doors."

"Right," said Draco, and he led her to the door that he had come in. They left as casually as they could, hoping that no one would suspect their leaving. "Alright, what now?" Draco asked when they were safely outside in the small hallway.

"Where do you think those five people you mentioned--"

"Carl, William, Vincent, Hector, and Gerard?"

"Yes, them. Where do you think they are right now?" When Draco looked at her quizzically, she explained her plan, "If we can stun those five and Lucius before midnight, we might have a chance of getting everyone out of here safely without arousing too many suspicions." She looked at her watch. "Twenty minutes." She said.

"Okay, the quickest way to the kitchens is through the dungeons," said Draco, leading the way.

They made it to the kitchens without incident (except for Hermione shrieking loudly when a spider crawled up her arm). However, when the reached the kitchens and had found an appropriate hiding place, it became quite clear that Draco's absence from the floor had not gone unnoticed for long, and the servants were arguing about who was to tell Lucius.

"It's not my fault he got away!" said one of them. "Master Malfoy knows I'm a squib."

"I don't even know what Miss Lestrange did to him, so _I_ obviously couldn't cure him!" said another.

A few of the servants seemed extremely uninterested in what had happened to Draco and continued about their business as if nothing had happened. Draco told Hermione that Carl and William were the two leaning over a plate of what looked like calamari, adding finishing touches. Hector was opening a fresh bottle of red wine to serve and Vincent was sautéing mushrooms on a stove across the room. Gerard was nowhere to be found, so Hermione and Draco presumed that he was in the ballroom, probably guarding an exit or talking with Lucius.

Hector was walking quickly towards where Hermione and Draco were hiding in the shadows and Hermione chose that moment to act. "Stupefy," she whispered as he passed with the open wine bottle. Before the servant could come crashing to the floor, Draco caught him and pulled him swiftly into their hiding place. Hermione caught the wine bottle before it shattered on the stone floor, but some of the wine sloshed anyway. The two looked around the kitchen quickly to see if anyone had noticed Hector fall behind a refrigerator. No one had.

Draco told Hermione that he'd be back in a second and dragged Hector down the stairs to the dungeons. Hermione looked at the wine bottle in her hands and shrugged, taking a sip. Maybe it would make their situation seem less hopeless. To Hermione's great frustration, it didn't.

Draco reappeared after a minute or two, but at first Hermione did not recognize him; he had stolen Hector's serving clothes and the small hat that Hector always wore concealed his brilliant blonde hair.

Hermione tried very hard not to laugh as Draco took the wine bottle from her hands and winked at her. "I'll try to stop the other servants from telling my father about my disappearance. Can you try and stun Carl, William, and Vincent if they pass? I'll be back soon."

"Okay," said Hermione shakily, determined to keep a straight face.

Draco went over to the others, who were still arguing about who should tell Lucius that his supposedly stunned son was gone. "Tell you vat," He said in a perfect imitation of Hector, "I vill go tell Meester Malfoy abut Draco, okey?"

"Yeah, you go Hector," said one of the others.

"Yes, he likes you," said another.

Hector nodded and cast a swift look in Hermione's direction before stepping out into the ballroom.

Hermione waited patiently for one of the other three to walk past. It was a while before one of them did. It was Carl, and, thankfully, he wasn't carrying anything. "Stupefy," Hermione whispered as he past. She reached out a hand to slow his fall, but quickly withdrew it into the shadows when she heard a voice coming from across the kitchen.

"Hey, what happened to Carl?" asked William, walking quickly to where Hermione was hiding.

"Shit!" Hermione muttered, trying to get down the stairs to the dungeon before she was seen.

"Hey! Miss Lestrange! What are you doing in here?" asked William, spotting her.

Hermione turned around and tried to look innocent. "Looking for Lucius. Have you seen him?"

Right at that moment, Lucius himself walked through the secret door. "Five minutes until midnight. Get ready."


	14. Chapter 13

"In My Life"

Chapter 13

Hermione froze as Lucius walked in through the door and spoke. She was almost positive that any lie she made up (even if her brain wasn't frozen and she could think straight) would not work this time. All the same, she tried to look calm as she waited for Lucius to notice her presence.

"Master Malfoy," said William, turning away from Hermione, "Miss Lestrange says that she wants to speak with you."

Lucius quickly looked over in William's direction and spotted Hermione. "Ah, Miss Lestrange, what is it you wanted to speak to me about? If, indeed, you did really want to speak to me. Perhaps that is just another lie to explain why you were in the kitchens when I told you to wait with the guests? Maybe you thought you could revive dear Draco?" Lucius smirked as he looked at the spot on the floor where he thought Draco lay. Seeing that his son was no longer there, his eyes widened and he looked around accusingly. "How did this happen?" he asked, the words short and separated.

No one moved for several painful seconds, but then William spoke, "We sent Hector in to tell you, sir, but he must not have reached you in time."

William nodded towards a figure standing near the door, and it was only then that Hermione realized that Draco was back in the kitchens. He was gazing determinedly at the floor, trying to prevent Lucius from getting a good view of his face. "I vent to tell you, sir, but I could not find you."

Lucius gave a growl of fury as he looked once more at the spot where Draco lay. "Miss Madison, er, pardon, Miss Lestrange, I am afraid that my faith in you has been somewhat strained for the last hour, so I hope you understand why it is necessary for me to place you in the dungeons, where I may be able to keep track of you." Lucius said with feigned politeness and a forced smile. "Hector! Secure Miss Lestrange near the kitchens, I want her somewhere close by."

Draco, still looking anywhere but at Lucius, nodded his understanding and took a firm grip of Hermione's upper arm, steering her towards the dungeons. Hermione glared at Lucius over her shoulder and received a mocking wave in return, but it was all for show; in truth she was stunned at her good fortune.

They headed down the cold stone steps in silence, not wanting to raise any suspicions. When Hermione felt they were alone, she spoke to Draco.

"What do we do now? We have less than five minutes and only one of the murderers is out of the way," she whispered.

Draco let go of Hermione's arm and turned to face her. "I don't know what we're going to do," he said after a pause. "I guess the only thing we can do is go back to the ballroom and fight them when the time comes."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Fight them?" She asked incredulously. "Not only are we outnumbered and considerably less experienced than they are, but they could kill half the guests by the time we manage to unarm or stun them."

Draco nodded grimly. "I know, but what else can we do? We don't have time to do anything else."

They fell silent for a moment, unable to bear the idea of watching their friends be killed off one by one for no reason. Eventually Draco came to his senses and realized that they were wasting the precious little time they had to get into the ballroom unnoticed.

"Quick," he said, gesturing down a dark corridor to their left, "Let's get ourselves inside and maybe we'll be able to stun the four servants and Lucius before anyone is seriously hurt or…." He didn't need to finish that sentence; Hermione already knew he was about to say "killed."

Hermione gave a hopeful nod that she hoped would encourage them both but only succeeded in looking weak and pitiful. She followed Draco as he half-ran, half-walked through the dungeons. They only had thirty seconds to get into the ballroom before midnight when they reached a stairwell leading to the small side hallway Draco had been in earlier. In their haste, a large ceramic vase was knocked off its elegant marble perch, creating a large crash that was undoubtedly heard in the ballroom. Neither Draco nor Hermione thought it wise to wait around for someone to find them, so they continued to run and eventually reached a small wooden door that opened only when Draco muttered, "_Abrando_."

They were just in time. Hermione had just managed to close the door quietly when they heard Lucius's magically magnified voice fill every corner of the large space.

"Ladies and gentlemen, members of the cast, crew, and all others in any way associated with the film production _In My Life_, tonight, your film was released worldwide! Congratualtions!" He said, sounding surprisingly sincere. All the guests applauded, patting each other on the back and offering words of congratulations to the people surrounding them. Draco hoped that his father would give a long speech; long enough, perhaps, for Hermione and him to find Vincent, Carl, Gerard, and William and stun them. He tapped Hermione on the shoulder and whispered for her to stun Vincent, who had just entered the ballroom on the other side. Hermione nodded her understanding and quickly started working her way through the crowd. Draco looked around but didn't see any of the others except for Gerard, who standing only feet away from Lucius.

Draco made his way through the crowd and, taking advantage of his disguise as Hector, tapped Gerard on the shoulder. Gerard looked around and frowned when he saw Draco.

"Hector, not now, Master Malfoy is making his speech."

Draco nodded, trying desperately not to look Gerard in the eye. "Yes, Gerard, I understand, bot I vanted to tell you that Miss Lestrange has escaped. I vent to check on her and she is gone."

To Draco's surprise, Gerard rolled his eyes. "Of course she has escaped, of course. I really don't see how things could go any worse than they already have without Miss Madison or Miss Lestrange or whatever the hell her name is disappearing and reappearing and telling lies all the time." He said angrily, heading towards the nearest exit. Draco followed close behind and when they were both outside the room and the door was closed, Draco whipped out his wand and muttered, "Stupify."

Gerard collapsed onto the marble floor instantly and Draco didn't bother moving him. He hurried back through the door through which they had both just come and looked around for Hermione.

Hermione reached Vincent quickly enough, but was having trouble thinking of a way to stun him without attracting the attention of nearby guests. Hermione thought frantically for almost a minute before realizing what she had to do. Drawing her wand out of her pocket casually, she carefully aimed for Vincent and muttered, "_Imperio_."

Vincent's eyes glazed over and his arms dropped to his sides. Now under Hermione's control, Vincent turned around and headed back in the direction of the kitchens. Hermione concentrated very hard on making Vincent leave the room. Never before had she performed the Imperius Curse, and she was finding it extremely difficult to keep her focus. It didn't help when she tripped over Mr. Foroy's foot and fell to the floor.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Miss Madison, I didn't see you there." Mr. Foroy muttered, helping Hermione to her feet. Hermione quickly slipped her wand back into her pocket and smiled at her director.

"No, it was my fault, Mr. Foroy, don't worry about it." Hermione quickly looked around for Vincent, but he had disappeared. Inwardly cursing, Hermione turned her attention to Lucius, who seemed to be rapidly bringing his speech to a close. She felt someone tap her shoulder, and she looked around to see Draco standing behind her.

Looking around briefly to see if anyone was watching them, Hermione whispered, "I lost track of Vincent, I've no idea where he is!"

Draco nodded, fidgeting with the ring on his finger in thought. "I stunned Gerard out in the hall," he whispered, "but I don't know what to do about Carl, William, and Vincent."

Hermione shook her head. "We can't get to them now. Our only hope is to unlock the doors and pray that everyone can get out quick enough." She said it hopefully, but inside she knew it wasn't possible.


	15. Chapter 14

"In My Life"

Disclaimer: I own only the plot, not the characters, which were created by J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 14

Hermione went as fast as she could towards the first door on the left side of the ballroom without attracting too much attention. Draco was on the opposite side of the room, working his way towards another door. Hermione reached the one she was headed for and, not to great surprise, found it magically sealed. Hermione looked around before quickly pulling out her wand and tapping it to the lock, whispering, "_Abrando_." She heard the lock click back in place and pocketed her wand, satisfied. Across the room, Draco turned away from another door and gave her a slight nod; he had been successful too.

Hermione looked around the walls of the room, searching for another door to open. She saw a large wooden one to her left and hurried towards it, occasionally glancing up at Lucius to make sure he had not seen her. She reached the second door, but it was becoming very clear that Lucius's speech was nearly over; he was bringing his comments together into a conclusion at an alarming rate. Hermione unsealed the door and was halfway to the next one when everyone around her started applauding.

Hermione jerked her head to where Lucius had been speaking and found, to her horror, that he was finished giving his talk and was reaching into his pocket for something that looked suspiciously like his wand. Hermione sped up and was still looking at Lucius when she reached the next door. "_Abrando_," she whispered yet again, hearing the bolt click back into place, the magical bond broken. There were at least three more doors to be opened, but there was no time now; Lucius's smile had disappeared and he was pulling his wand into plain view.

"And now guests, the celebration we've all been waiting for so long…MAY THE DARK LORD TRIUMPH EVERMORE!" Lucius roared suddenly, aiming his wand at a nearby person, "_AVADA KEDAVRA_!"

Hermione gasped as the unfortunate muggle fell to the floor, unmistakably dead. The people around her mumbled in confusion for a moment before screaming broke out in the front as they realized the person was dead. Lucius laughed his cruel laugh and bellowed the unforgivable curse at anyone he laid his eyes on. "OVER HERE!" Hermione screamed at her coworkers, wrenching the door open. Only the people close by heard her, as everyone was screaming in panic.

Suddenly, Draco's magically magnified voice filled the enormous space, "EVERYONE OUT THE BACK DOORS! THEY ARE NOT LOCKED! HURRY!" Hermione saw Lucius look at his son in rage before casting yet more killing curses in every direction.

'I have to stop Lucius!' Hermione thought frantically, trying to get a good view of Lucius through the crowd. "_STUPIFY_!" she cried at the top of her lungs, aiming her wand in Lucius's general direction. The spell missed, and Lucius looked over to find that she had cast it.

"_AVADA KEDAVRA_!" He cried, throwing the curse towards Hermione. Fortunately for her, the spell hit the wall to her right and not her. She heard more curses being cast around the room and figured Carl, William, and Vincent had arrived. To her immense relief, the room was emptying quickly as the guests left the room as quickly as possible through the back doors.

She pushed her way through the crowd into the main part of the room, which was now deserted except for Lucius. 'I've got to distract him,' she thought, casting a stunning hex in his direction once again. Lucius dodged it and turned to look at Hermione.

"_EXPELLIARMUS_!" screamed Lucius over the shouts of the mass of people. To her utter horror, Hermione's wand flew from her hand and Lucius caught it. He smiled at her menacingly and lifted his wand. "_AVADA KE_--"

"_AVADA KEDAVRA_!" screamed another voice and Lucius collapsed on the floor, lifeless.

Hermione looked around to see who had cast the spell and saw Draco staring determinedly at his dead father, wand still raised. Draco looked away and wasted no more time. "_Accio wand_!" Hermione's wand flew into his outstretched hand, and he immediately threw it back to its owner. "I got Carl, you stun Vincent!" yelled Draco, gesturing through the crowd to where Vincent stood casting the killing curse in every direction.

Hermione pushed her way once again through the rapidly thinning crowd until she had a decent view of Vincent. "_STUPIFY_!" She screamed and Vincent fell, his wand rolling across the cold floor lazily.

There were now less than thirty people in the room, all of them running away from William, who was the last of Lucius small team remaining. "_AVADA KEDAVRA_!" shouted William, and to Hermione's dismay, it was Mr. Foroy who fell.

"NO!" Hermione screamed, watching the life disappear instantaneously from her director and friend. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she lifted her wand and screamed with all the hate she had been building up for the last two weeks, "_AVADA KEDAVRA_!" The jet of green light sped from her wand and hit William full-force in the chest. He was dead before he hit the floor.

The last ten people fled from the room and Hermione fell on her knees, sobbing. The dead bodies of more than forty innocent people lay around her. Draco came and sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her and trying to sooth her. Hermione wrapped her arms around Draco's neck in a tight embrace but continued to weep. Neither knew how long it had been before they pulled apart, long after Hermione had stopped crying.

The two sat there silently, not speaking because there was nothing important enough to be said. The innocent people around them deserved their mournful silence. It was not right that these people had died in a war they knew nothing about, a war of power blown out of proportion and magic used for the wrong reasons. These people were not here now to celebrate the failing of a horrible deed that would have sent people worldwide into a panic--something the Dark Lord wanted desperately. The celebration was left to the heroes of the day; the two people who had saved so many and risked so much.

But somehow, these heroes didn't feel much like celebrating.

Hermione and Draco left the manor in a daze. Not one person was outside; the only sound that could be heard was the light wind breezing through the surrounding trees. Neither had spoken in a long time, both lost in troubled thoughts.

Draco stared at the ground emotionlessly. Hermione knew he was thinking about his father; only a moment ago he had stood over Lucius's dead body. Draco had stared at his father with a mixture of pity and hate. Hermione thought it must be hard to be forced to kill your own parent, especially one you'd been trying to please your entire life. "You did the right thing, Draco," Hermione said, hoping Draco realized that. "Lucius wouldn't have let either of us survive if he had lived."

Draco nodded solemnly and looked up at the stars in the brightening sky. "He never really cared when it came to me." Draco said almost inaudibly, "My personality, my dreams, my life…he just didn't care. He wanted me to be his clone, to follow him from birth. I tried for a long time, but I _couldn't_…I just didn't want to; it wasn't me." He absentmindedly played with the ring on his finger, looking at his hand but not really seeing it. When Draco realized what he was doing, he looked at the small silver snake and frowned. He removed the ring from his finger and pocketed it, tired of thinking about anything to do with his father. He glanced over at Hermione and found her looking eastward, where the sun was just barely peeking out from the horizon.

Hermione tore her eyes from the sunrise and turned to Draco. "I'm exhausted," she said, smiling a little. "There's nothing left to do here, Draco. Let's go."

Draco looked back at the manor and nodded slowly. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at a boulder on the ground. "_Portus_," he said, and the rock glowed blue. "This will take you back to your hotel. I'll disapparate once you're gone and tell the Ministry."

Hermione saw that Draco still hadn't completely recovered from earlier in the evening. She hadn't either, but it seemed as though there was something else bothering Draco that she couldn't figure out. On sudden realization, she spoke, "I don't blame you, Draco." Draco stopped staring at the ground and looked up at her. "And you shouldn't blame yourself. What happened is Lucius's fault. Take comfort in the fact that you stopped him when you did." Draco didn't look entirely convinced, so Hermione gave him a gentle kiss before she stepped towards the port key and put her hand on it. "I'll see you later," she said, and disappeared.

Draco stood alone in the suddenly cold air for a moment before disaparating.

The Ministry lobby was empty, which Draco had expected, as it was only a little after dawn on a Saturday morning. He walked up to the information desk and pressed a small silver button off that was to the right. A cool female voice spoke seemingly from nowhere, "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. If no one is available at the desk, please state your name and business now."

"Draco Malfoy; I need to leave a message."

The voice spoke again after a pause, "Please state the department you wish to leave a message for and whether or not it is an emergency."

"The Department of Magical Law Enforcement; it is an emergency."

"The message, please."

"This morning over forty people were found dead at Malfoy Manor in Batonstown. Most of them were muggles, but several wizards were there as well. Contact Draco Malfoy with questions." Draco decided not to leave too much information on the message. If the Ministry needed more information, they knew where he lived.

"Thank you. The Ministry of Magic appreciates your help. Have a nice day."

A quill suddenly leapt up of its own will behind the counter of the desk and started scribbling Draco's message on a piece of parchment. When it finished, the parchment rolled itself up and flew off in the direction of the Law Enforcement offices. Draco watched it disappear and disapparated to his apartment, where he would sit awake, awaiting the questions the Ministry would ask upon receiving the news.

Hermione put her hand gently on the port key and watched Draco disappear in a swirl of color. Almost immediately, she appeared in her hotel room. Every single thing was exactly where she had left it two weeks ago. A thin layer of dust covered the desk where her script lay open to the final scene of _In My Life_.

Hermione slowly walked over to the desk and sat in the chair beside it. She gently picked up the script and shook the dust from it. She closed it and looked at the cover.

IN MY LIFE

_Written and directed by Frank Foroy_

Hermione felt tears well up in her eyes as she remembered how kind Mr. Foroy had been to her and how he had died, only a few hours ago, for no reason. Mr. Foroy was so happy the night before; it was the opening night of the first--and last--film he had ever written. He was no doubt eagerly awaiting the reviews for the film that would be published internationally….

Lucius Malfoy had taken that away from him. Hermione felt at that instant that if Draco hadn't killed Lucius, she would have. She could not think of any words horrible enough to describe Lucius Malfoy. 'He didn't deserve to die; he deserved to _suffer_,' thought Hermione cruelly, though she could think of no punishment terrible enough for him. She had never before felt so much hate for another human being, but Lucius was the kind of person that one either respected immensely or hated with a passion. Hermione knew which category she fell into. It seemed that everything one could associate with the man was evil--Voldemort, greed, prejudice….

But then there was Draco. Lucius's only son, and yet, completely the opposite personality-wise. Hermione smiled mentally as she thought of all the fun times they had had these past months, before Hermione was kidnapped, that is. Hermione remembered doubting him constantly…but in the past twenty-four hours Draco had done much to erase these doubts completely.

Draco had done a great deal for Hermione, and she, in turn, had helped him to face his father. Why did it matter that they were enemies at Hogwarts, when together they had just ruined a terrible plan that would have strengthened the Dark Lord? There had been a bond between them before last night, but today it was the strongest it had ever been.

Hermione realized that of all the people she had loved deeply in the past, there was no one that even compared with Draco, and though she knew she'd never forget any of the people she loved before, in her life…

….she loved Draco more.

The End.

In My Life

_There are places I remember, all my life, _

_Though some have changed._

_Some forever, not for better,_

_Some have gone, and some remain._

_All these places have their moments,_

_With lovers and friends I still can recall,_

_Some are dead and some are living,_

_In my life, I've loved them all._

_But of all these friends and lovers, _

_There is no one compares with you._

_And these memories lose their meaning,_

_When I think of love as something new._

_Though I know I'll never lose affection,_

_For people and things that went before,_

_I know I'll often stop and think about them,_

_In my life, I love you more._

_Though I know I'll never lose affection,_

_For people and things that went before,_

_I know I'll often stop and think about them,_

_In my life, I love you more._

_In my life, I love you more._


End file.
